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WOMEN IN
MEDICINE

Learn to Say “No”—Prioritize what is
important and how much time and en-
ergy you can devote to each and every
commitment. There is no need to prove
yourself by being the “yes woman” to
every request.

Be Present—Minimize distractions when-
ever possible to be fully present at work or
at home. If possible, try not to take work
home to allow for quality time with your
family and friends. You can also set bound-
may also have to learn the hard way, by trial aries with the family to allow maximal concentration while at work.
and error, until you become so overwhelmed
that you decide to take action. Alternatively, It Really Does Take a Village—Be willing to accept help whenever
my years of mistakes can serve as a guide to offered. Delegating or sharing duties with friends, family and co-work-
save my fellow women in medicine precious ers can lighten the burden.
time and energy along this learning curve. If
only my thirty-year-old self would have lis- Take Care of Yourself—Take time to reward yourself with some “me”
tened to such advice: time. How is it that you haven’t read a non-medical book in the last
ten years when you love to read? Pick up that book. Or watch that show
Creep Happens—No matter how well- on Netflix you’ve put off for months. Have a spa day. It’s not being lazy
tuned your daily life, an invisible force will to do something to relax or re-energize yourself. Find your passion and
creep in to upset that balance. A few extra make time for it. As for me, in my late fifties, I discovered a passion for
shifts, adding patients to the clinic schedule writing about some of the incredible medical stories I have encountered
and going in on the weekends may be easily in my career. This newfound hobby helped to balance my job-related
justified to help pay for that vacation you’ve stress and led to the completion of my first book, a true story about a
dreamt of or for three college tuitions. But once that increased friend’s heart transplant and the unlikely relationships that developed
workload becomes the new baseline, then the creep happens again. as a result. (Of course, it didn’t hurt that there was plenty of free time
Alternatively, your personal and family schedule becomes so jam- during the early pandemic and quarantine).
packed that you fall behind in your CME and certification require-
ments. As a result of this silent shift, it is necessary to frequently With the help of these guidelines, I have come to believe that a
monitor where you are and where you want to be in the balance. work-life balance is achievable. And the good news is that such balance
is conducive to longevity in your career and beneficial to your health.
Forgo the Superhero Status—Who hasn’t tried to overcompen- It will require active adjustments to maintain the balance, but with
sate for missing out on activities with their family? Whether be- some work and frequent tweaking, you just may get close to catching
cause of guilt, FOMO (fear of missing out) or the Type A that unicorn.
personality which draws us to medicine, many of us have tried to
be everything to everyone. Supermom. Best Friend. Wonder Wife. Lou Anne Wellford, MD is an emergency physician with
Employee of the Month. Of course, this is only sustainable for Greater San Antonio Emergency Physicians. She completed
short periods of time until you collapse in exhaustion (mentally or her training at Brooke Army Medical Center. To learn more
physically) and can barely function. Simplify life whenever possi- about her writings and her book, you can follow her on Facebook @Lou
ble and occasionally accept less than perfection. It is okay to send Anne WellfordAuthor. Dr. Wellford is a member of the Bexar County
store-bought baked goods to the bake sale instead of homemade Medical Society.
cookies after working all day.

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