Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Can women be empowered and avoid burnout?

Simone Kantola, MD
Physician
May 16, 2017
Share
Tweet
Share

Women surgeons all over the globe have been recreating the “Operating Theatre” cover of the New Yorker through the #NYerORCoverChallenge. The public recognition of women in what has been a male-dominated field has rallied female surgeons’ spirits everywhere.

Except, perhaps, mine. While I am fiercely proud of my surgical sisters, I also feel a twinge of sadness, because I know so many of the untold stories behind the surgical masks. Because I too am a female surgeon and understand the pressure of wearing a different I-am-expected-to-be-superwoman-so-that-is-what-I’ll-show-to-the-world mask. Only a few weeks ago I read the 2017 Medscape Lifestyle Report showing astronomical rates of female surgeon burnout. The discordance between the powerful image of female surgeons portrayed in these pictures and the apparent burnout behind the masks deserves mention.

Medscape’s 2017 Lifestyle Report reveals that burnout is higher among female physicians in general than male physicians (55 percent vs. 45 percent). However, when narrowed down to women in surgical specialties, the numbers are even higher: 59 percent of women in general surgery, 61 percent in obstetrics and gynecology, 70 percent in urology and 74 percent in plastic surgery. Those numbers are staggering. This means that the majority of my fellow female surgeons are reporting feeling “a loss of enthusiasm for work (emotional exhaustion), feelings of cynicism (depersonalization) and a low sense of personal accomplishment.”

Can it be true that we pose for empowering pictures and  are totally burned out at the same time?

As a result, I’ve a witnessed a woman surgeon operate at full term pregnancy until the moment her water broke intraoperatively. I’ve seen a woman surgeon perpetually survive on three hours of sleep and three Red Bulls a day just to see her kids and keep the household running. And then saw a woman surgeon eat, pump breast milk, text the nanny and dictate notes simultaneously because her schedule wouldn’t allow adequate break time. We wouldn’t applaud our patients for these kinds of lifestyle choices or their workplaces for being so unaccommodating, but we accept them as the norm for ourselves. We may even encourage them by praising the women who endure them, saying, “Wow, she’s a machine!” Wouldn’t, “That doesn’t sound healthy,” or “That seems really stressful,” be more appropriate?

I fear that in trying to continuously prove our toughness, we may keep burning ourselves out. Now that we have been seen, I hope we bring our voices together and start to be heard. And I hope that when we are heard, we tell the whole story: We have made it, and we may have sacrificed in special ways for it. We are equal in surgery, and we may have different challenges because we are women. We are strong, and we need help to fix our higher rates of burnout.

Simone Kantola is a plastic surgeon.

Prev

A medical student's first patient

May 16, 2017 Kevin 0
…
Next

No, I'm not settling for family medicine

May 16, 2017 Kevin 14
…

Tagged as: Surgery

Post navigation

< Previous Post
A medical student's first patient
Next Post >
No, I'm not settling for family medicine

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • Chasing numbers contributes to physician burnout

    DrizzleMD
  • Physician burnout is as much a legal problem as it is a medical one

    Sharona Hoffman, JD
  • Despite physician burnout, medical schools are still hard to get into. Why is that?

    Suneel Dhand, MD
  • Social media: The ultimate tool for women in medicine

    Meridith J. Englander, MD
  • A medical student’s reflection on burnout

    Sarah B. El Iskandarani
  • Burnout doesn’t start in medical school

    Anna Goshua

More in Physician

  • The gift we keep giving: How medicine demands everything—even our holidays

    Tomi Mitchell, MD
  • From burnout to balance: a neurosurgeon’s bold career redesign

    Jessie Mahoney, MD
  • Why working in Hawai’i health care isn’t all paradise

    Clayton Foster, MD
  • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • Why compassion—not credentials—defines great doctors

    Dr. Saad S. Alshohaib
  • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • A world without vaccines: What history teaches us about public health

      Drew Remignanti, MD, MPH | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How the 10th Apple Effect is stealing your joy in medicine

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • From Founding Fathers to modern battles: physician activism in a politicized era [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • From stigma to science: Rethinking the U.S. drug scheduling system

      Artin Asadipooya | Meds
    • The gift we keep giving: How medicine demands everything—even our holidays

      Tomi Mitchell, MD | Physician
    • The promise and perils of AI in health care: Why we need better testing standards

      Max Rollwage, PhD | Tech
    • From burnout to balance: a neurosurgeon’s bold career redesign

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Healing the doctor-patient relationship by attacking administrative inefficiencies

      Allen Fredrickson | Policy

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How New Mexico became a malpractice lawsuit hotspot

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • A world without vaccines: What history teaches us about public health

      Drew Remignanti, MD, MPH | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • How the 10th Apple Effect is stealing your joy in medicine

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • From Founding Fathers to modern battles: physician activism in a politicized era [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • From stigma to science: Rethinking the U.S. drug scheduling system

      Artin Asadipooya | Meds
    • The gift we keep giving: How medicine demands everything—even our holidays

      Tomi Mitchell, MD | Physician
    • The promise and perils of AI in health care: Why we need better testing standards

      Max Rollwage, PhD | Tech
    • From burnout to balance: a neurosurgeon’s bold career redesign

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Healing the doctor-patient relationship by attacking administrative inefficiencies

      Allen Fredrickson | Policy

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...