Monthly Archives: October 2009

Proud to be an American!

By Linda | October 29, 2009

All dressed up, for a surgery day that is, I confidently walked into the OR five minutes earlier than I was expected, which, on this Tuesday past, was 35 minutes earlier than my usual OR starting time. Why? I was really excited to be invited to the re-upping swearing-in ceremony for one of our very [...]

Posted in On the Job | 10 Comments

Telling Stories: Unbelievable?

By Linda | October 26, 2009

Not a day goes by that I don’t encounter some woman who doesn’t have a story where she believes that her gender played a factor in differential, negative treatment somewhere in the house of medicine. After listening to stories from medical students, physicians in academic medicine, mother’s of patients, patients themselves, and seasoned seemingly [...]

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Inspiring Conversations

By Linda | October 23, 2009

October is usually the slowest month for us pediatric otolaryngologists. Most days, we actually get to sit down and eat lunch. Charting gets done on time. And best of all, we usually have some extra time to chat with patients about things other than their medical “issues” or “problems.”
I have known George and his family [...]

Posted in On the Job | 2 Comments

Gripe Session

By Linda | October 19, 2009

I have been very proud of myself for the great restraint I have shown by not posting yet on the legislative machinations surrounding health care reform. I have now come to the end of my self-imposed silence.
Why? The debate has taken a new, very ugly and dangerous turn. The airwaves no longer [...]

Posted in Anger Management, The Confessional | Leave a comment

EEEEK! How Much Can One Woman Take in One Day?

By Linda | October 16, 2009

A lot. And then some.
No doubt some (many? almost all?) of you suffer physical or emotional (or both) fatigue some (most? all?) of each day, week, month or year. Well, if you haven’t, you can stop reading right now.
For those of you who have even one extra ounce of energy to read on (for that [...]

Posted in The Confessional | 4 Comments

Telling Stories: Research Can Be Fun

By Linda | October 14, 2009

Yes, yes, I am working on this book about gender discrimination and healthcare. The stories have led me down so many unexpected paths. New syndromes, its effects on men, maybe even new breakthroughs on disease causality. (Are any of you librarians and can tell me the incidence of allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases in this [...]

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The Good, the Bad and the Very Ugly: The Academy Meets the Mayor by Way of the Unions

By Linda | October 13, 2009

These are the pretty facts:
1. If industry did not pay the big bucks to rent space at our conventions, there would be none.
2. Many, if not most, of us come to the Academy to learn about new technology, buy instruments and equipment, and have other fun shopping experiences.
3. Many of our colleagues are in industry [...]

Posted in Accidental Crusader, Adventures in Advocacy | 5 Comments

Women in Otolaryngology—Committee Work as a Subversive Activity?

By Linda | October 12, 2009

Now that I am going to be a member of the committee, even though technically Tuesday morning I was still a consultant, I decided to push the agenda. We were blessed with a new chair who did a fabulous job of jumping right in and taking hold of the reins.
First we were told to [...]

Posted in Adventures in Advocacy | Leave a comment

Women in Otolaryngology–Consultant and Crusader, Committees and Colleagues

By Linda | October 9, 2009

You shouldn’t be surprised that I am going to share with you my experiences with the women in otolaryngology. I have several stories I want to tell. Warning: it may take several blog entries. One is about the Committee on Women in Otolaryngology, and about my role on that committee. [...]

Posted in On the Job | Leave a comment

The Academy Awards

By Linda | October 8, 2009

Every year at the AAO, the first event is the highly anticipated and almost always predictable opening ceremony. Every year we are greeted by more high tech pomp and circumstance that is beginning to rival the gaiety and glitz of the Motion Picture Academy Awards. Every year the president presides over the procession.
This [...]