“Here’s To Strong Women.”

“May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.” -Unknown

What a great quote! I wish I knew who said it but I could not find any sources in my search. Happy International Women’s Day!

Today’s topic was suggested by my good friend, who is also a woman in science, and is about finding role models.

My first thought was that it is hard to find a role model. Starting in high school, then college, followed by medical school, and throughout my training, I found lots of people who I admired. I didn’t find too many that I felt were role models in the sense that I wanted to follow their careers and lifestyle in order to achieve my goals. In fact, as I looked around, it felt like there was really no one around that had a similar path to the one I wanted to take.

Once I started my actual “real job” after what felt like a thousand years of school and training, I was paired up with mentors. I have two, one in my department and one in a different department in the hospital I work at. They are both wonderful, smart, and successful women. They truly are role models but once again, I felt like their careers look very different than the one I was envisioning for myself.

If finding a role model in a pediatric specialty is hard, I can’t imagine what it is like in other fields. Medical specialties with less women in it, women scientists not in medicine, dentists, veterinarians, finance, engineering…the list could go on and on.

A role model is defined as a person looked to by others as an example to be imitated (thanks Google). I know so many people that I admire but not many that I would want to imitate.

Most medical centers have portraits of great doctors that once worked there hanging around and I always felt a little uneasy whenever I walked past the ones hanging where I trained. Nobody looked like me. Could I possibly ever be one of these great doctors? Someone who one day could have a portrait hanging on a wall for everyone to see? It’s been a long time since only white men were allowed in medical school but yet these portraits told another story.

So what have I learned about finding a role model? I learned that one size does not fit all. There may not be one person that I can look up to that has a similar background, has a similar career path, or even lifestyle choices to mine. I also learned that this is okay.

I’ve realized that I can find role models and mentors in many different people. Everybody has something to offer and it is up to me to figure out how to make it work. How to be smart about my networking and the connections I make. One person can be my inspiration on how to be a great teacher while another one can show me how to be a great clinician.

I hope to one day also be a role model for others. Maybe I already am.