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Category: March 2020

March is National Women’s History Month. We asked our members to share stories about women in hand surgery, how they have advanced the field at large, and how they have navigated their careers amid a changing landscape. Members highlight some of the field’s trailblazers and touch upon the trails that still need blazed.

Patient Safety Scenario #21: Black Box Thinking

This essay is the 21st installment of the monthly Patient Safety essays, produced by the Patient Safety Subcommittee of the Ethics and Professionalism Committee. The essays are written in the spirit of the aviation industry’s concept that every miss or near miss is a valuable lesson. To read earlier essays and learn how to contribute, please click […]

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How Did I Get Here?

By Lindsey Caldwell, MD When asked “How did you end up in orthopaedic surgery? And why hand surgery?” my answer usually goes something like this: sort of haphazardly. Having grown up in a non-medical family, there were no doctors (much less hand surgeons) to expose me to the field. Going to college I knew I […]

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Challenging but Rewarding

By Linda C. Cendales, MD National Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture, and society and it has been observed in the United States since 1987. The 2020 focus is on “Valiant Women of the Vote,” paying honor to the 100th anniversary of the confirmation of the 19th Amendment, which gave […]

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Learning from Giants

By Melinda M. Gardner, MD My father was a doctor and my mother a nurse, so medicine was a forgone conclusion for me. Fortunately, my husband and best friend was always there to help. In medical school clinical rotations, orthopedic surgery captivated my interest – both the subject matter and the residents and attending staff […]

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A Different Kind of Surgeon

By Andrea Halim, MD When I was a fourth year orthopedic resident, a new hand attending started, fresh out of fellowship. Dr. Felicity Fishman had completed a hand fellowship with an additional 9 months of pediatric hand surgery training. She came in with a bang. She demanded that residents be prepared for cases, and became […]

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Giants and Everyday Heroes

By Jessica Hanley, MD As a female hand surgeon early in my career, I can honestly say that I have always felt fully supported every step of the way and have been blessed with many incredible mentors, both male and female. However, even just a few decades ago, life as a female in surgery wasn’t always […]

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35 Years as a Female Orthopaedic Surgeon

By Senator Kay Kirkpatrick, MD When I chose orthopaedic surgery, I was the first female resident at the University of Louisville. Starting in 1981, I had a great experience as a resident and stayed to do my hand fellowship with Dr. Kleinert’s group. Interestingly 4 of the 16 fellows that year were women, 3 ortho […]

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Keeping the Lessons Close

By Amber R. Leis, MD, FACS I credit my career as a hand surgeon to two women: Dr. Frances Sharpe and Dr. Sharon Kalina. I rotated with them during my third year of residency, and they were among my earliest exposures to the specialty. Dr. Kalina was an extremely thorough teacher, regularly pulling me into […]

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Gender Disparities Affect Us All

By Ines C. Lin, MD For National Women’s History Month, I would like to recognize some of our female leaders in the American Society of Surgery of the Hand: Dr. Marybeth Ezaki, former ASSH president, and Drs. Amy Ladd, Jennifer Wolf, Tamara Rozental, Jennifer Waljee, and Amy Moore, who represent the 13% of Bunnell Traveling […]

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Trailblazing in Orthopedic Hand Surgery

By Julie A. Melchior, MD When I was accepted to an orthopedic surgery residency in 1991, I and two other women from my class who had also matched to orthopedic surgery were invited out to dinner by one of the senior orthopedic surgery residents who was a woman. She gave us some advice I’ve often […]

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