Becker's Hospital Review

46 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP POPULATION HEALTH 'Go get that cup of coffee': Central Texas' 1st female thoracic surgeon serves up career advice By Erica Carbajal A s the first female thoracic surgeon in central Texas, Rachel Medbery, MD, of Cardiothoracic and Vas- cular Surgeons in Austin, Texas, shared ad- vice for women working in male-dominated fields during a recent episode of the Becker's cardiology podcast. Here is an excerpt from the podcast. Editor's note: is response was lightly edited for length and clarity. Question: What are your top three pieces of advice for women aspiring to be clinical leaders in male-dominat- ed specialties? Dr. Rachel Medbery: The first thing I would say is don't listen to the haters. What I mean by that is I have been told so many times throughout my life that I'm either too nice to be a surgeon or that I'm crazy for being a surgeon or that I'm crazy for go- ing into cardiothoracic surgery. That's just somebody else's opinion, and I would just encourage people [to not] listen to that. If you have a dream and there's something you want to do, it doesn't matter what others think. Don't let them try to talk you out of it if that's what you really want to do with your life. e second thing I would recommend to peo- ple is that small opportunities can really lead to big rewards. For example, if somebody in- vites you to go get a cup of coffee, definitely go get that cup of coffee because you never know what might come of that relationship. Some of my biggest successes have come from a small introduction. For example, I met a woman at a conference that I went to almost 10 years ago, and she ended up being not only one of my biggest mentors throughout my career, but made other introductions that opened so many doors for me over the coming years. I didn't know it at the time, but that small op- portunity led to a really big reward. e last thing I would recommend is that it's OK to ask for help. You do not have to be su- perwoman and do it all. What I mean by that is if you need somebody to do your laundry, clean your house, cook your meals or help you raise your kids, it is OK to ask for help, because I don't think that you can overextend yourself and be successful. I think you real- ly have to be careful of trying to take on too much, otherwise you might lose sight of your true goal. n Female physicians see more recruiting offers than male peers By Kelly Gooch F ewer jobs are being offered to physicians in their final year of training in 2021 compared to previous years, likely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey released May 11. The survey also suggested that female physicians received more job recruiting offers during their training than their male counterparts, but expected to earn less. Merritt Hawkins, a national physician search firm and a company of AMN Healthcare, conducted the survey of 103 final-year medical residents (59 percent male, 40 percent fe- male) in March and April. Merritt Hawkins has conducted the survey periodically since 1991. The 2021 edition includes the caveat that there were fewer survey responses this year relative to previous years, partially because fewer email ad- dresses for final-year medical residents were available this year compared to years prior. Merritt Hawkins said disrup- tions related to the pandemic may also have inhibited the number of responses. Ten survey findings: 1. Sixty-two percent of survey respondents received 26 or more recruiting offers this year, compared to 82 percent in 2019, and 86 percent in 2017. 2. Thirty percent of survey respondents said they received 100 or more recruiting offers, compared to 45 percent in 2019. 3. Although physicians saw fewer recruiting offers, 86 percent of residents still got 11 or more during their training. Merritt Hawkins said this shows most new physicians are still finding available jobs. 4. Seventy percent of female residents reported 26 or more recruiting offers during their training, compared to 54 percent of male residents. 5. Thirty-eight percent of female residents expect to earn $251,000 or more in their first practice, whereas 76 percent of male residents said the same. 6. Forty-five percent of survey respondents said they are very or somewhat concerned about COVID-19 health risks, and most (93 percent) said they are very or somewhat concerned about their ability to earn a good income. 7. Forty-five percent of respondents said they would prefer hospital employment as their first practice setting, compared to other types of settings. 8. Three percent of survey respondents strongly agreed that the pandemic had caused them to rethink their de- cision to go into medicine. Nearly half (49 percent) strongly disagreed. 9. Twenty-one percent of survey respondents said they would not choose medicine again if they could do over their educa- tion and training. 10. Three percent of survey respondents would prefer to practice in communities of 25,000 people or fewer. n

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