Finding Me in Medicine Again

Nazanin Moghbeli, a cardiologist near Philadelphia, founded and currently directs the Women’s Cardiovascular Center at Penn Medicine. She and her partner parent 3 young children. She also devotes time to her art - her abstract ink, gouache and graphite drawings on paper. the work grows out of a love of traditional calligraphy and reflect patterns and rhythms of music in Iran where she was born.

She talks about how all the pieces fit together for her in a rich life.

The website for her artwork is www.nmoghbeli.com.

Rochelle Walensky, MD, is an infectious disease physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a research specialist on AIDS and HIV infection here and in SOuth Africa. She also is raising three boys (12, 14 and 16) with her husband. She talks with us about

- What helped her take a higher risk choice despite a lot of uncertainty;

- How to create the conditions where you are putting your children first but without sacrificing your colleagues or your career; and 

- Why her mentees come before some of her own demands.

Helen Cajigas MD, is a specialist in anatomic pathology and cytopathology. She has served as medical director of clinical labs across Massachusetts and has led national laboratory inspection teams. She's a leader in Massachusetts Medical Society and founded the Massachusetts Hispanic Medical Association to promote physician leadership and promote healthcare among Hispanic and minority populations. She has two children that she raised with her husband.

She talks with us about -

- Why she thinks it's so difficult for 63% of women physicians (according to one poll) to set healthy boundaries with one's patients, supervisors and colleagues,

- How getting lots of rejections can be rally good for you, and 

- How delegating can set you free.

Eliza Buyers, MD, is an adolescent gynecologist at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado. She’s worked in many different practice settings – from private practice to non-profits to corporate healthcare. She made her choices to meet several aims - to develop in her professional specialty, to work with the people she wants to serve and to be available for her growing family.

She talks with us about:

- How she motivates herself. It’s a big change from what used to drive her workday - avoiding messing up,

- Saying yes to new opportunities, then saying no, and

- When she gets to use her “superpower,” it’s usually a good day.

Tu-Mau Tran, MD, is a family medicine physician at Dot House health, a health center in metropolitan Boston. She's also a medical educator at Boston University School of Medicine and in China and Vietnam. She has worked in a variety of healthcare systems in the US and abroad. She talks with us about -

- why she chose to work full-time from the beginning and why all her children are taking Tai Kwon Do,

- how setting boundaries for herself changed expectations for everyone around her, and

- how stepping out of the day-to-day to reassess what makes her happy has worked for her.

Susan Pories, MD, surgeon and medical director of the Hoffman Breast Center at Mount Auburn Hospital in the Boston area, talks about

- how the neighborhood she chose did wonders for her work and her family life,

- how she learned leadership even though there was no ladder there for her in her workplace, and

- an opportunity that led her to a new role and contributions to medicine that changed her life.

Johnye Ballenger is a pediatrician in a practice she built with her colleagues - a practice she loves. We talk about -

- the importance and the non-importance of recognition,

- choosing roles and next steps thoughtfully so they build toward - and not impede - the long-term you want, and

- doing what it takes to contribute to medicine and your community the ways you want, even when it's tough.

Jo Shapiro, MD, is an otolaryngology surgeon and Chief of Division at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. She launched and currently leads the hospital's Center for Professionalism and Peer Support.

In this show we talk about

- What the best professional development thing she ever did for herself was...and it included other people,

- How the burden of perfectionism can harm wonderful women physicians, and

- What she considers the biggest game-changer for her and her career.

Lauren Proctor is an internist at the Veterans Administration after many years in private practice. We talk about

- What predictable days and weeks has meant to her and her family,

- How many work cultures have different performance standards for women physicians relative to their male peers,

- How important it is to create boundaries with patients that work over the long-run.

Talking with Dr. Emelia Benjamin, a cardiologist at a Boston area safety net hospital.

We talk with you about:

• How the culture of shame is so deeply rooted in medicine
  • How the concept of “work-life balance” is mythical and undermines our finding a strategy that helps us “manage” and succeed
• How to handle the “yes” gene
• Knowing your resiliency mechanisms