This article will be continually updated through the month of March 2024. Check back for more content as the month progresses.
For Women’s History Month this year, we engaged a group of clinicians in responding to the question, “Who is a woman in medicine in the near or distant past who inspires you?”
We posted these responses across our social channels on International Women’s Day (March 8):
Lois Geist, MD, MS
“This was hard! My choices are closer to home. Having come through a field that was dominated by men, the women role models were few and far between.
Distant past: Adrianna Zeevi. She is a researcher at Pittsburgh who defined the field that I was most interested and involved in early in my career. She provided support and guidance for me as a young scientist, and introduced me to important people in the field.
Less distant: Susan Johnson. Susan was a faculty member (now emeritus) in ObGyn. She is a woman who knows her own mind. I followed her into my first administrative position (associate dean for faculty in the college), learned much from her about how to be diplomatic without giving up one’s values. She inspired me to develop other women leaders while nurturing my own aspirations.”
Andrew Bryant, MD
“I have always been inspired by Dr. Audrey Evans, a former pediatric oncologist at CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia). I learned about her on my pediatrics rotation during medical school, for her renowned work on neuroblastoma. Additionally, she is one of the founders of the Ronald McDonald House Charities which has over 7,000 locations worldwide that help accommodate families of hospitalized children at local hospitals. She was clearly an amazing physician who cared deeply for her patients and their loved ones.”
“Happily, the culture of medicine continues to evolve and we are doing better at recognizing the numerous benefits of diverse contributions to our field. Within our division, we have worked to promote a family friendly culture for our fellows, faculty, and staff. We celebrate our children’s birthdays together, serve as each other’s emergency contacts, and enjoy lively divisional gatherings with our children playing around us. By promoting this family friendly culture, we have created a division where the contributions of everyone are recognized and celebrated. As a society, women are still often compensated less than our male colleagues for the same work and not always given the same opportunities, but I am encouraged by the progress we are making and I believe we are creating a more inclusive world for the next generation.”
