I don't really know who I was when I entered medical school in 1991, after my second entrance exam, at UFSM; however, I remember being very hard working, having a goal that I considered difficult, but attainable, that depended only on a lot of dedication, and I remember having a lot of support from my father and mother and a purpose that made any sacrifice seem much smaller.
I am the first generation in my family to enter higher education, many people worked very hard for me to get there, and, although financial difficulties were a reality, I recognize the privilege I had and have for being a white woman; with me 63 people graduated, not one of them was black. And of these 63 people, 42 were men, 66% of the class.
Given the "way" I dedicated myself, taking my boyfriend, who was an engineer, to attend some courses, because I didn't have time for him, getting the diploma was only a matter of time, the big challenge would be to choose what kind of doctor I wanted to be, where I would do my residency, which residency, and where would I work?
I recognize myself as extremely happy to have these questions plaguing me at the time, because they were only possible because women like Elisabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garret Anderson, Sophia Jex-Blake and here in Brazil, Rita Lobato Velho Lopes, fought for the right of women to take their places in medical schools at the end of the 19th century, facing prejudice and unimaginable difficulties to obtain the same level of medical education and diploma that was offered to men.
Of course, the formation of my identity went through everything that a university life offers, I had good and bad examples, and luckily I managed to find the love of my life with whom I had two daughters. One of them was born during residency, but that is another story.
About "the way I used to devote myself", I guess I owe some words to explain and I only understood this after my daughters opened my eyes to conscious feminism; yes, although I have always been a feminist, I was not always conscious of it.
I quickly learned that I should be "perfect at everything" and believe me, if there is one place where perfectionism rules, it is medical school; no one seems to fail, and there is constant competition established, so I raised the bar even higher. I imposed on myself a high degree of demand to be good and accepted, which most women still need to do in order to take their place in society. But no matter how hard I tried, whenever I opened the door to interact with a new patient, I always had to deal with the frustration that the patient expected a man in my place. This is historical, structured, and not of today..
This shows that the work of those nineteenth century women did not end there, we still have a lot to do, but there are already some signs of change; today, the medical school classes, thanks to public policies that are more inclusive, women are occupying more than 50% of the vacancies. There are already women in all medical specialties, including those considered "exclusive" to men, such as trauma, urology, proctology, and neurosurgery.
The more women doctors there are, the more accepted they will be by society, and the more society will benefit from them, yes, because although somewhat hidden in history, the contributions brought to medical science by women are countless. Olivia Campbell tells in her book Women in White Coats about the beginning of the discipline of epidemiology in 1898 by Janet Lane-Claypton at the London Medical School, the discovery of pholic acid's protective effects during pregnancy in the 1920s by Lucy Willls; thanks to her, women today take this supplement and prevent anemia and neural tube defects in their children, the founding of hospitals such as the South London Hospital for Women and Children, the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children, and so many others stemming from the legacy left by those women who I mentioned at the beginning of this text.
This book tells, in a very grounded way, the difficulties women went through to be able to practice the medical profession, and it has broadened my understanding of their achievements.
If you have ever had a Pap smear, or received a diphtheria vaccine, or needed treatment such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, heart surgery, fertility treatment, for diabetes, for leukemia, malaria, herpes, gout, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, or schizophrenia, then you have benefited from women in the medical sciences. Recent research confirms that women follow more clinical protocols and provide more preventive care than their male colleagues. Data from more than 1.5 million hospitalizations conclude that patients treated by women are significantly less likely to die or require rehospitalization, and patients operated on by women are also less likely to die.
(Women in White Coats, Olivia Campbell)
I didn't know all of this when I went to college, I didn't really know who I was, but I learned to take my place, to stay alert, and to understand that we have the right to be who we want to be, in any profession.
Ana Claudia Tonelli de Oliveira
MD, Ms, PhD
Sources:
Campbell, Olivia. Women in White Coats: How the first women doctors changed the world of medicine. 2021.
Comments