Being a woman in ENT- possible?

[SandP]

Hi all,

For all you women ENTs (or knowledgeable males about the topic), how is life in residency and your career in general as a woman? I am very interested in this field, and the ENT docs I've shadowed have only convinced me of how much I like it. I have, however, come across some comments from female docs about some difficulty in balancing the career with their obligations as mothers. Is this a common hardship? Or can it all work out?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DrBodacious]

Hi SandP, not a woman, but I suppose you are talking about maternity leave, mainly? That is never going to be convenient. It will disrupt you availability for referring physicians to refer to you. That is probably a bigger deal as a specialist, as opposed to being an ER physician or primary care physician, where people line up at the door to see anyone. But, maternity leave is going to be temporary. Practically, I suspect most women ENT would say that this is not a big deal, big picture-wise. It would maybe be advantageous for you personally to take as little maternity leave as you feel comfortable with, as opposed to planning on 3+ months for child bonding, etc.

The rest of the obligations of a parent can be addressed with a nanny or family help.

ENT provides better opportunities for a good work/life balance, but it just depends on your practice niche. General ENT, with a favorable call schedule and low on-call volume, has been good with regards to leaving me with life of freedom from work when I leave the office or OR. Pediatric airways, head and neck or facial trauma at busy places are going to require more dedication to work, by nature. On the flip side, you can work 100hrs a week as a general ENT, if you want to, or if you have crappy call demands. I would think most people who make it through ENT residency want to work at least 50 hrs a week though, and compensation is mainly going to be linked to patient volume, just like any physician.

 

[pulmoblast]

Some of the hottest women in my place are Attendings/residents from derm, rads and ENT

 

[Thyroid_Storm]

I've heard that ENT is considered one of the more "female friendly" surgical subspecialties, but from the estimates I've seen, it seems like there still aren't a whole lot of females in the field. I think I read that ~33% of entering residents are female. Are females just not applying? This may or may not be kosher to ask, but does being a female confer any kind of advantage in the application process?

 

[Wordead]

Not sure about the % of applicants that are women, but almost all my interviews were 50/50 men/women. I dont know if it's really an advantage, unlike ortho or uro or something.

 

[Wardens]

For the most part, surgical specialties continue to have problems with gender equality. There are fewer women professors and chairpersons than men, particularly in surgical fields. There continues to be unfair biases against women who choose to have children during surgical residency. I think part of this bias has to do with the smaller number of residents in each program combined with the busier schedule making less wiggle room in coverage when a resident takes a leave of absence. This, however, is an unreasonable excuse. I also think it's unfair that men get one week of paternity (if that, depending on the program). The other part of the problem is cultural, including lack of women mentors. Pulmoblast's comment above, for instance, contributes to this shameful culture. In terms of mentorship, some departments at which I interviewed 7 years ago had only a single woman resident or no female residents. Some had no women on faculty.

If I may generalize, this is changing, and otolaryngology I feel is at the forefront among surgical specialties. There are many excellent women mentors and leaders in my department and about half the residents in my program are women. We are embarrassed if we match majority males. I am male, but I get the sense that many of the women attendings and residents in the field are happy with their choice. I agree with you; this is a terrific field, worthy of the increase attention given to it by med students in recent years. Call requires your availability and cannot be avoided, but the schedule during residency is usually not terrible outside of the second year and when you're not on a head and neck rotation later in residency. The subspecialties are varied in terms of lifestyle. You can adjust your career accordingly. Some will do part time private practice or have arrangements as described above by DrBodacious.

I think juggling family and career is hard no matter your field, and this is true of men as well. Surgical residencies are longer and some of the pressures associated with residency may subtly--sometimes overtly--encourage you to delay starting a family. Ultimately the choice is of course yours, but I think otolaryngology is a great field for women that is constantly getting better.

 

[DrBodacious]

To chime in again: PC statements about "equality" aside, relative to men, more women want more flexibility to raise children. This really means wanting less time requirements for work demands. There are a lot of reasons to be passionate about ENT, and among surgeons, we have it pretty good, but ENT still has higher demands relative to non procedural or shift work fields.

My wife is a hospitalist, and I can tell you that works better for her, for me, and for our family, with her working predictable shifts. (Week on/week off.) She has amazing dedication, and spends extra hours with meetings, teaching residents, etc. But the predictability of the shifts is huge for scheduling a nanny.

ENT in most facets involves some unpredictable availability. Although not particularly common (and certainly better than gen surg), you do have call demands where you sit around the hospital waiting for an add on case, or run in at night for epistaxis. In my first years of private practice, I took very little vacation, because I want to be available. (Availability is the most important "A"). In private practice, I also spend some late nights or early mornings with business-oriented meetings. Essentially, I could need someone available (either wife or nanny) to help with child care at any time, day or night. If my rhinoplasty patient has their incision dehisce, I am not going to have a colleague who doesn't do rhinoplasty cover that, because I am not on call. And for other specific niches, such as I mentioned previously, you are going to have more or less unpredictability in your patients' needs. Cancer, airways, trauma, etc. To put it another way: If both my wife and I were ENTs, it would be a lot harder.

Family-work balance issues are obviously not unique to ENT, or women-only problems, but things that come along with highly driven career individuals in any field, not necessarily medicine. Similar problems for a CEO, for example. These are things you probably consider when applying for medical school. ENTs tend to be quite driven so you tend to have high expectations for both work and family.

And of course, it depends on what your spouse does, as far as how your two careers mesh together. (Stay at home husband =no problem.)

 

[Moose A Moose]

Lol

 

[addy]

all of the ent residents at our institution are women except for 2 guys-- all hot, but complete and utter beotches. everyone hates that rotation.

 

[ENTMOM]

ENT residency - depends on the program as far as hours but know this: It takes 5 years of an incredible time commitment logged and non logged hours in reading just like any other surgical specialty. Having said that I had two children in residency. I strongly discourage anyone from having a child during residency with hind sight 20/20, but this is my second career and well my clock was ticking. I have always worked long hours so a 60 hour week for me is manageable and I do a lot more on the weeks I am on call. I rush home and pay through the nose for nanny, housekeeper and adjunct helpers so that when I am with my kids, it is quality time. If you are a traditional student and can hold off on kids or have the savvy to plan one during a research rotation it can be done. It is a fantastic field for a woman who enjoys hands on because all day every day I do procedures whether I am in the OR or in clinic. I love my career choice and would not change it for the world. It is absolutely possible to achieve a work life balance and be a surgeon. With practice anyone can eventually become an expert and efficiency can be mastered when necessary. For this life it is necessary.

No question it is still a male dominated field and success in the field really requires shedding insecurities and concerns regarding gender bias. I used to be concerned about being labeled the B word when I had to be assertive. Now I look at the sexist comments from some of your male counterparts above and the more I hear of it from certain individuals only changes my perception of their importance in my world. I can't be bothered by someone if I don't allow them to register on my scale. It was a painstaking transformation in that regard but exceedingly liberating. If you are good, people will seek you out no matter what is hiding in your trousers. Lastly, when I started residency there were two female attendings in the department. Now they represent over 50% of my department when I finished. I was very lucky to have strong role models. Many days I was scrubbed on big head and neck cases with complex reconstructions and there was not a man in the room. Many days I operated doing similar cases and I was the only woman in the room. Both were equally enjoyable because perception, attitude, and self respect make your reality.