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

I will be a doctor because I was once a patient

Shira Fishbach
Physician
October 24, 2020
Share
Tweet
Share

I found out I was pregnant the night before a chemistry exam. I had taken a break from stoichiometry to take a very different kind of test, one I bought from the nearest Walmart to avoid any indiscretion on the family Amazon account. After the second pink line appeared, clear as day, I got up off the bathroom floor and joined a friend to finish the last of our review. And then I called my mom.

Before I became pregnant, I never doubted that I would terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Now, at 21 years old, 6 weeks pregnant, nauseous and uncomfortable, and preparing to apply to medical school, I needed some time to think. In a stroke of immense privilege, a friend of a family friend was a gynecologist who performed options counseling and abortions in the area. I had an appointment with her in 7 days.

Reproductive rights are again at the forefront of my mind as I start my third-year OB/GYN rotation the same week the Senate votes on Amy Coney Barrett’s controversial nomination to the Supreme Court. Fertility doctors and patients have been particularly critical of her nomination, citing Barrett’s public support of an organization that promotes the idea that life begins at fertilization and that discarding unused embryos during the IVF process is a criminal act. When Barrett refused to answer whether criminalizing IVF would be unconstitutional during this week’s confirmation hearings, physicians and patients alike tweeted with the hashtag #ThanksIVF, sharing their experiences with the treatment. A group of physicians even published a letter in Fertility and Sterility, the first in the journal’s 70-year history, denouncing her nomination as jeopardizing women’s constitutional rights. Fertility advocates’ messaging is clear: IVF is not only non-partisan; it’s pro-family. Who could argue with that?

The philosophical premise of Roe v. Wade is that people have legal rights that a fertilized egg does not. It is this premise that protects the right to build a family via IVF and, by the same hand, to terminate a pregnancy. Yet it is IVF, not the right to abortion, that has garnered widespread social media support from the medical establishment. Yes, we must protect IVF and other fertility treatments. But these technologies, already accessible to so few and palatable to so many, are far less vulnerable than the right to abortion.

There may never be a #ThanksAbortion. For as long as there is stigma and shame around abortion, demanding that people share their experiences silences those for whom it is dangerous to speak openly about their choices. But perhaps, in light of widespread social media support for patients who have undergone IVF, I can advocate for my future patients by offering my story as a small act of resistance against the political machine that dehumanizes stories like ours.

I was 21 years old and 7 weeks pregnant when I had a surgical abortion. Two weeks after what would have been my due date, I was accepted into my top medical school. Everything I ever have and ever will accomplish is in part due to the doctors, nurses, administrators, and security officers who gave me safe, compassionate care. This was no fairytale ending; I wish I never had to make this choice, and I grieved for months for the path I did not choose. But I often think of the resident who held my hand in the procedure suite and told me I would make a fantastic doctor. And when I look at what she gave me — the freedom to pursue my medical education, the privilege to care for patients, the right to live my life how I choose — I hope I’ve made her proud.

Shira Fishbach is a medical student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

A terminal diagnosis for my baby [PODCAST]

October 23, 2020 Kevin 0
…
Next

Executive presence for women leaders

October 24, 2020 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: OB/GYN

Post navigation

< Previous Post
A terminal diagnosis for my baby [PODCAST]
Next Post >
Executive presence for women leaders

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • Osler and the doctor-patient relationship

    Leonard Wang
  • Studying to be a doctor, while living as a patient

    Claudia Martinez
  • It’s the little things that can make or break the doctor-patient relationship

    David Penner
  • Doctor-patient relationships would die without this one thing

    David Penner
  • Building a bond of trust between patient and physician

    Michele Luckenbaugh
  • Finding a new doctor is like dating

    R. Lynn Barnett

More in Physician

  • How market forces fracture millennial physicians’ careers

    Shannon Meron, MD
  • Unity in primary care: Why I believe physicians and NPs/PAs must work together toward the same goal

    Jerina Gani, MD, MPH
  • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

    Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD
  • How to balance clinical duties with building a startup

    Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
  • When life makes you depend on Depends

    Francisco M. Torres, MD
  • Implementing value-based telehealth pain management and substance misuse therapy service

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How hospitals can prepare for CMS’s new patient safety rule

      Kim Adelman, PhD | Conditions
    • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

      Alex Siauw | Conditions
    • Why palliative care is more than just end-of-life support

      Dr. Vishal Parackal | Conditions
    • When life makes you depend on Depends

      Francisco M. Torres, MD | Physician
    • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

      Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD | Physician
    • Why medical notes have become billing scripts instead of patient stories

      Sriman Swarup, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

      Angela Rodriguez, MD | Conditions
    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine

      Tom Phan, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Apprenticeship reshapes medical training for confident clinicians

      Claude E. Lett III, PA-C | Conditions
    • How American medicine profits from despair

      Jenny Shields, PhD | Policy
    • How market forces fracture millennial physicians’ careers

      Shannon Meron, MD | Physician
    • What I learned about health care by watching who gets left behind

      Maanyata Mantri | Policy
    • Why palliative care is more than just end-of-life support

      Dr. Vishal Parackal | Conditions
    • Few people realize this common infection can cause serious complications [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

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

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How hospitals can prepare for CMS’s new patient safety rule

      Kim Adelman, PhD | Conditions
    • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

      Alex Siauw | Conditions
    • Why palliative care is more than just end-of-life support

      Dr. Vishal Parackal | Conditions
    • When life makes you depend on Depends

      Francisco M. Torres, MD | Physician
    • Guilty until proven innocent? My experience with a state medical board.

      Jeffrey Hatef, Jr., MD | Physician
    • Why medical notes have become billing scripts instead of patient stories

      Sriman Swarup, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

      Angela Rodriguez, MD | Conditions
    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine

      Tom Phan, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Apprenticeship reshapes medical training for confident clinicians

      Claude E. Lett III, PA-C | Conditions
    • How American medicine profits from despair

      Jenny Shields, PhD | Policy
    • How market forces fracture millennial physicians’ careers

      Shannon Meron, MD | Physician
    • What I learned about health care by watching who gets left behind

      Maanyata Mantri | Policy
    • Why palliative care is more than just end-of-life support

      Dr. Vishal Parackal | Conditions
    • Few people realize this common infection can cause serious complications [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

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...