A New Take on Kitchen Cabinets--A Reflection of the 2021 Women in Medicine Summit
Author: Mysa Abdelrahman
Keywords: women in medicine, Summit, mentorship, sponsorship, support, allies
Where once the kitchen was synonymous with being the place of a woman, this year’s 2021 Women in Medicine Summit, challenged this narrative by engaging women in varying fields of medicine to empower their successors.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike started off the incredible weekend by coining the term “kitchen cabinet,” to describe supportive people in our lives that help keep us grounded. Being a woman in medicine comes with its own unique set of challenges, whether it be balancing family and work responsibilities, combating harassment and bias, or promoting healthy work environments, it seems that the tasks women in medicine face are endless. Having a “kitchen cabinet” is therefore quintessential in being centered and moving forward in a meaningful way that promotes change and growth in our environments.
The 2021 Women in Medicine Summit has provided me with my own kitchen cabinet who I look forward to learning and growing with throughout my medical career.
Being a first-year medical student in the midst of a pandemic has been no easy feat. Given that my curriculum has been fully online, the days seem to be monotonous in nature, and I find exhaustion setting in much earlier than it would have pre-pandemic. Buried behind screens of varying sizes, interacting with classmates via zoom, not experiencing a hands-on medical education, I felt so far removed from the thing I was so adamant about studying not too long ago. This year’s summit revitalized my intentions and reminded me that the light at the end of the tunnel may not be as far off as I imagine.
From Dr. Brittani James and Dr. Brandi Jackson’s discussion on healing while being black and in medicine to Dr. Shapiro’s continued advocacy as an ally, utilizing and recognizing his privilege to uplift women in medicine–– the 2021 Women in Medicine Summit was filled with pivotal information to mobilize the change necessary to combat the inequitable gender gap within our medical healthcare system.
Hearing stories from the women in medicine who paved the way for my success inspires me to work hard and make the necessary connections to be the change I hope to see in medicine. It is evident that not all women have the privilege of breaking glass ceilings; it is for this exact reason that we must continue to strive and thrive to uplift one another as we rise. Disparities of race, social class, ethnicity, age, and religion continue to pollute the system we trust to care for us. What better way to capitalize on these stereotypes than to utilize them to our advantage while simultaneously dismantling the system?
“You need not see what someone is doing
to know if it is her vocation,
you have only to watch her eyes:
a cook mixing a sauce, a surgeon
making a primary incision,
a clerk completing a bill of lading,
wear the same rapt expression,
forgetting themselves in a function.
How beautiful it is,
that eye-on-the-object look.”
-W.H. Auden, “Horae Canonicae”
In his exert from “Horae Canonicae,” W.H. Auden mentions the passion in the eyes of men who do what they love. The annual WIM Summit posits this fact to be especially true of women in medicine who’s drive for gender equity and patient care fuels their vocation on a daily basis.
About the Author: Mysa Abdelrahman, is a first-year medical student at St. George’s University School of Medicine. She received a dual bachelor’s degree in Biology and Psychology with double minors in Neuroscience and Global Studies from CUNY Brooklyn College. Her interests include medical equity, global public health, and literature. (Twitter: @mabd53 )
