Spring 2007
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| Editor's Comments
To submit articles, announcements, or pictures please e-mail Mindy with "WIM Newsletter" in the subject heading — myoungspint@ucdavis.edu. If you have any suggestions for columns or other features, please also feel free to contact me.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this newsletter! I hope everyone looks forward to the next issue, which will be published following the 2007 WIM conference.
Mindy Young-Spint, MSIV
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President's Corner
Welcome to the Inaugural Women in Medicine Newsletter!
Again and again, WIM attendees have expressed interest in maintaining closer contact with each other and the organization throughout the year — not just during our brief annual retreat/conference. To this end, we are launching a twice-annual newsletter. The Winter Edition will be full of updates on WIM attendee activities, information on the up-coming conference, and various articles to keep folks both entertained and medically up-to-date. The Summer Edition will feature highlights and photos from the preceding conference and review the activities of the Board and its various committees.
Our first issue features the wit and wisdom of two beloved members, Shay Bintliff, MD and Mindy Young-Spint, MSIV. We've also included an update on our ever-popular Medical Student Mentoring Program, which is now expanding to include residents. Enticing details can be found regarding the up-coming 2007 WIM conference in Burlington, VT. (Don't forget to register, if you haven't already! www.womeninmedicine.org) And finally, Mindy has surprised us with a special photographic diary of the WIM Quilt — You have to check this out!
Welcome and Enjoy!
Elizabeth Tillman, MD
President, Women in Medicine
WIM 2007 Conference
BURLINGTON, VERMONT
July 25-29, 2007
This year's 24th Annual WIM conference will take place in Burlington, Vermont.
As we've all come to love and expect, the environment will be casual, CME will be top-notch, and family/partners are an integral part of the retreat experience.
Our Keynote Speaker will be:
- Susan Love, MD - Out of the Closet and Out on a Limb: Reflections of an Iconoclastic Lesbian
Plenaries this year will include:
- Paula Amato, MD - Current Concepts in PCOS
- Katie DeCarolis, PT - Physical Therapy in the Treatment of Pelvic Floor Dysfunctions
- Donna DeFreitis, MD - MRSA, VRSA, VRE: The Alphabet Soup of Infectious Disease
- Nanette Gartrell, MD - Where Do You Draw the Line? Boundaries for Lesbian Physicians
- Susan Legacy, MD - Recognizing & Treating Depression
- Cindy Ripsin, MD -Type II Diabetes: Gathering Storm on the Horizon
- Ellie Wegner, MD - HPV Vaccines, HPV Testing & PAP Smear Guidelines
Burlington, VT
Ideally situated on the shores of Lake Champlain — the sixth largest freshwater lake in the U.S. — Burlington offers an abundance of entertainment and recreational opportunities. Favorite attractions are the famous Shelburne Museum (45 acres of American Folk art), a cruise aboard the Spirit of Ethan Allen, the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, and the Church Street Marketplace — an open air market with old world style featuring boutiques, cafes and providing a shopper's paradise.
The Burlington Community Boathouse, a short walk from the hotel, has bicycles and boats for rent. A bike path spans several miles of the lake's shore. Swimming beaches, public parks, golf courses and tennis courts are accessible by cab or car.
les of the lake's shore. Swimming beaches, public parks, golf courses and tennis courts are accessible by cab or car.
A sampling of Vermont's own products like maple syrup, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Lake Champlain Chocolates can be enjoyed throughout the area.
Accommodations
The Wyndham Hotel, which overlooks beautiful Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains, is within walking distance of the Church Street Marketplace, Waterfront Park, and the Lake Champlain Ferry. An indoor heated pool, whirlpool spa, and fitness center are located on the property.
A Block of rooms with reduced rates has been reserved for conference registrants at the Wyndham. Please make your hotel reservations directly with the hotel (802-658-6500) prior to June 24, 2007 and indicate your participation in the Women in Medicine conference to receive special rates ($145 single/double occupancy per room, per night). Rates will apply two days before and after the conference dates. Space is limited during this busy summer season, so please reserve early!
We look forward to seeing you in Vermont this year!
To register for the 2007 WIM conference please click here register online.
WIM Herstory
The following pictures are from our wonderful historian, Jane Petro, MD. She was recently in Honduras on a medical mission and sent these pictures along with the wonderful idea of collecting information from our members to add to the "Herstory of WIM." In response, the following questions were posed to her, and her answers follow.
- How did you first learn about WIM?
- Which conference was your first?
- What has been your favorite site for the conference, and why?
- Who has been your most inspiring WIM role model?
- Is there a speaker who has been your most memorable/instructive/inspiring person
Q. How did you first learn about WIM?
A. I read a small article in JAMA news about an upcoming conference for lesbian physicians, written by Sari Staver. I wrote immediately, but the P-town meeting was sold out. I got on the mailing list, and attended the Asilomar conference the next year (I think it was the 2nd Asilomar). At that meeting, Elizabeth Harrison was a real driving force, running the small groups, and facilitating discussions of issues that were, at the time, very troubling to me, in a fledgling dyke relationship. Things like money, power, being in a physician/non-physician partnership. It was also wonderful fun to meet old friends, who I did not know until then were also lesbians, Lesley Anderson, and Sallyann Bowman.
Q. Which conference was your first?
A. The second Asilomar.
Q. What has been your favorite site for the conference, and why?
A. Of course, for me, Joan Wurmbrand's conference in Minnesota has to be the all time favorite, for that is where I met Carolyn Becker. We were immediately drawn to one another, despite the fact that we were both currently (at the time) in relationships. We moved in together within a couple of months, and have had NO regrets since then. There is a great symmetry to our togetherness, as she moved to New York, giving up a job in Boston, so we could be together. Now, 20 years later, she is returning to Boston, and I will be moving there, with her.
Q. Who has been your most inspiring WIM role model?
A. There have been so many, but first, Elizabeth Harrison, who introduced me to GLMA (then called APHRA, to hide its gayness) and through that to Pierre Ludington, who was then the Executive Director. My love for Pierre continues even though he has been dead for nearly 15 years. He taught me the meaning and the ways to use political power, in a time when gay men and women had none.
Second, has been Kate O'Hanlon, who has inspired so many of us to be out, outrageous, and involved -- and who was the key founder of LHF.
Patty Robertson, who brought academic tools to the Lesbian Health Fund and kept us all on track with the grants process.
Joan Wurmbrand, whose organizational skills are not easily duplicated, and whose dedication to and work on behalf of WIM has kept us all together.
Q. Is there a speaker who has been your most memorable/instructive/inspiring?
A. Ginny Appuzzo really lit a fire, daring us to use our powers as physicians to benefit the lesbian community.
Joan Biren (JEB), whose video/slide show of the March on Washington inspired us to contribute a huge sum of money, permitting her to finish the work, and making us realize that our resources could and should be pooled for the benefit of our community — hence the LHF.
Minnie Bruce Pratt and initially Joan Biren, and then her next partner Leslie Fineburg, who taught us so much about butch/femme identity, and the need to include transgendered issues in our meeting content.
We'd love to hear from everyone! So, please send your answers to these questions to myoungspint@ucdavis.edu (email subject: "WIM Herstory"). These will be compiled before the next issue of WIM. Like the WIM quilts, each member can add a patch to this collection of WIM memories.
Donations to WIM
As many of you already know, WIM is a non-profit organization designed to foster relationships and knowledge among lesbian physicians, their partners and family. We depend on everyone's generosity to survive and to continue providing this invaluable annual conference. All donations to WIM are tax-deductible.
If you would like to donate to WIM you may do so by via check or credit card. Please send checks to Women in Medicine, PO Box 393, West Hyannisport, MA 02672. to pay by credit card, please visit our site to connect to our PayPal link.
It only takes a few moments and keeps WIM going strong!
Thank you.
WIM Medical Student and Resident Mentoring Program
The Program Expands!
Elizabeth Tillman, MD
During WIM 2003 we launched are first Mentoring Program for medical students — and it was an immediate hit for both students and physicians alike. For those of you unfamiliar with this program, here's a quick synopsis. At each conference, we pair medical students with attendings, based on fields of interest and/or geography. Several opportunities are built into the schedule for pairs to meet both formally and informally — at our introductory meeting, at the medical student support session, over lunch, with evening snacks, etc. Pairs are encouraged to maintain contact throughout the rest of the year, if the connection works. But likewise, students are encouraged to "try out" different mentors at each conference, so that they meet and learn from a variety of wonderful resources.
Students have raved that they felt immediately connected to WIM and "adopted" by their mentors. The meetings and lunches designed just for them underscored and reassured students that they are a valued part of the WIM community. At other medical meetings, students have felt like "second-class citizens, not yet legitimate without the initials after their names. But not at WIM." (Colleen McNicholas, MSII 2005)
Residents have repeatedly voiced a desire to have a similar mentoring opportunity. To that end, we are excited to announce this year's program expansion! Residents will be included in this special opportunity and will enjoy this invaluable source of networking, support, and connectedness. We can't wait! Residency is a rough period of transition with increased responsibility, increased stress, decreased sleep, decreased time for socializing, and often, decreased positive feedback. WIM's Mentoring Program can't solve all these ailments; but it can certainly provide a breath of fresh air and much needed reassurance.
If you're interested in having or being a mentor, please contact me at docliz@earthlink.net. All are welcome!
www.Goodsearch.com
How many times a day do you "Google" for information on the internet? Imagine if you donated a penny to your favorite charity (WIM, of course!) each time you clicked "Search"! Imagine if everyone who's ever attended a WIM conference did this! Imagine if all of our friends and family did this!
Imagine no more!
Instead of using "Google" as your search engine, try "Goodsearch." Simply choose "Women in Medicine (WIM) — West Hyannisport, MA" as your charity and start clicking!
Spread the word!!
Med Student Space
NUMBERS
Mindy Young-Spint, MSIV
Will I spend the rest of my life being measured by exam scores and what national percentile I fall into? Will the belief that I will be a good doctor come from my USMLE score or from my own sense of comfort with my knowledge and ability to work for my patients and teach them to live healthy? I would hope that the latter is true and if even it isn't...I live with the hope that it is.
I mean...what are numbers? What do they symbolize? What value do they have in measuring or representing one person's intelligence or abilities? Are they quantitative measures of aptitude? Symbols of intelligence? Predictors of the future?
It seems as though these "numbers" follow you for the rest of your life, but do they? How much impact do these scores have on our future, the way that we practice medicine, and on our "value" as students, residents, or colleagues? The simple answer is: "Who knows?"
The pillars of our strengths are our clinical skills and passion for serving our communities; but we are always reminded that the test scores are the foundation to successful "match." For those lucky individuals who pick the "less competitive" specialties, they are afforded with the gift of not needing high scores; but for those "unfortunate" few, scores are truly the foundation to one's ability to "match."
I ask myself and those in my same situation, "Do you really think that you will be a better doctor if you get a 240 vs. a 220 on the boards? Do you think that you will make more money? Have better relationships with your patients?" I trust your answer is a resounding "No!"
Medical school teaches us many lessons and most are not on test day. You learn from your friends, your residents, your attendings, and most of all, your patients. When a long day at the hospital or clinic ends, it is the quality of your work with your patients that matters, not what score you received on the last exam. And what matters to our patients is holding their hands when giving bad news, getting Kleenex when they cry, and promising to be by their side through the process. These are the characteristics of a doctor that cannot be measured. These are the qualities that make us human, that fundamentally add to our practice of medicine.
Now, I don't want to sound bitter about the exams, because I do think that they sometimes motivate students to learn about subject matters that might not be of interest. (Exams also give third year medical students a reason to see each other every eight weeks.) And I also believe that national standardized exams carry some legitimate weight in some of the more "competitive" specialties. After all, it is questionable to prioritize a person's personal qualities above their academic qualities when s/he is going to be a physician...or is it?
A physician's ability to practice "good" medicine is not (and should not be) measured by one score on a standardized exam. It's measured daily by the lives that we touch, by the people we help, and those we heal. There's no percentile, no three digit score. It is not measured in money, power, or prestige. Simply...one person's success is measured by his/her own happiness; and happiness is not a destination, it is a method of life.
We choose many things in our lives: where we will live, with whom we will share our lives, what type of doctor we will be, etc. But most people forget to choose the most important thing — "happiness." Yes, that's right people… You have to choose it. Everyday, no matter what happens or what doesn't happen, you have to choose to be happy. Regardless of the frustrations we face as students or physicians, regardless of all the numbers we have to generate, we must believe that the next day will be better and that every situation we face will strengthen us.
We will all be great physicians and humanitarians. I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to meet each of you and share my thoughts with you. Thanks for listening.
-Mindy
If you would like to write a follow-up article explaining how "numbers" are still important in the practice of medicine (i.e. patient satisfaction scores, complication rates, etc.), please send your article to myoungspint@ucdavis.edu.
The Traveling WIM Herstory Quilt
So, I had this great idea that I would take the WIM Herstory Quilt everywhere that I go during the year and take pictures to document our travels. I hope this tradition will be carried on to each individual who tenders over this heirloom, documenting all the places in the world that the quilt has traveled.
Most recently I had the opportunity to visit China for two weeks. My goal all year was to take the quilt to the Great Wall — And that wish has been fulfilled! Enjoy!
The Journey begins -
Laughter Therapy
Shay Bintliff
Need a laugh??? Of course you do!!!! And don't worry, I am not gonna get political today to explain why we all could use a few extra laughs these days. Other than stimulating those "feel good" chemicals in your brain, if you laugh enough, you actually burn more calories!
If any of you have any doubts...NEVER tick a nurse off!!! A big shot attorney had to spend several days in the hospital. He was a royal pain to the nurses because he bossed them around just like he did his staff. None of the nurses wanted to have anything to do with him. The head nurse was the only one who could stand up to him, but finally even she had had enough. She came into his room and announced, "I have to take your temperature." After complaining for several minutes, he finally settled down, crossed his arms and opened his mouth. "No, I'm sorry," the nurse stated, "but for this reading, I can't use an oral thermometer." This started another round of his complaining, but eventually he rolled over and bared his okole. After feeling the nurse insert the thermometer, he heard her announce, "I have to get something. Now you stay JUST LIKE THAT until I get back!" She left the door to his room open on her way out. He cursed under his breath as he heard people walking past his door laughing. After half an hour, the man's doctor came into the room. "What's going on in here?" asked the doctor. Angrily, the man answered, "What's the matter, Doc? Haven't you ever seen someone having their temperature taken?" After a pause, the doctor replied, "NOT with a carnation!!"
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FORE!!!! The 16th tee featured a fairway that ran along a busy road. The first golfer in a foursome teed off and hooked the ball. It soared over the fence and bounced onto the road, where it hit the tire of a moving bus and ricocheted back into the fairway about 350 yards. The golfer's partners all stood in amazement, the one asked, ""How did you do that?" The golfer shrugged, "You just have to know the bus schedule!"
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And for all my Texas (and Waimea) friends... Psychiatry students were in their Emotional Extremes class. "Let's set some parameters," the professor said. "What's the opposite of joy?" "Sadness," a student replied. "The opposite of depression?" he asked another student. "Elation," the student responded. "The opposite of woe?" he asked a young woman from Texas. The student replied, "Well, sir, I believe that would be giddy-up!"
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A poodle and a collie were neighborhood dog-buddies and were walking down the street. The poodle turned to his collie friend and complained, "My life is a mess. My owner is mean, my girlfriend is having an affair with a German shepherd, and I'm nervous as a cat!" "Why don't you go see a psychiatrist?" asked the collie. "I can't," replied the poodle. "I'm not allowed on the couch."
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Can ya take one or two more???
Why did the cowboy by a dachshund dog?? Someone told him to "get a long little doggie!" (Oh, that is sooooo bad!)
And what do you get when you play a country song backward??? You get your job back, you get your house back, your wife back, your truck back...
How do we know global warming isn't just Mother Nature having hot flashes??? Trust me...tight-fit jeans and loose-fit skin are one BAD combination!
Why do they hold elections in November? Because it's the best time for picking out a turkey!
And for the grande finale....How do you keep a WIM friend in suspense? I'll let you know tomorrow!
Be Well... Aloha... a hui hou.
- Shay
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