Hello hello! I’m days away from the end of my surgery rotation and let me just confess that I am thoroughly exhausted. When people ask which is worse, pediatrics or surgery I always say pediatrics because of the emotional exhaustion that is compounded with the physical one, but at times surgery contends more for the title! The running around is so excessive, one day my pedometer counted 17,453 steps in one day, my feet ached so badly by the time I turned in 😭😭😭
Aside from my almost constant physical exhaustion, being a woman in surgery isn’t a walk in the park. Some people assume you are soft and have lower expectations of you in comparison to your male counterparts, whereas others want to prove a point and push you harder than actually is necessary just to tell you that your gender isn’t an excuse (which you never said in the first place). Other times, inappropriate jokes are made where the woman is at the receiving end of the stick, but you’ve got to be a good sport and not be emotional about it before the stereotype about being overly sensitive props up.
Sigh.
I don’t even know what to say about these experiences. Will things change? I don’t think it will anytime soon, but I sure hope it does.
Till next time,
ETP xo
P.S – Happy International Women’s Day! 😅🌸
