Looking over this article on challenges for women academic hospitalists yet again. It gets at some key issues but doesn’t mention what I think of as the women’s work of medicine. @JHospMedicine #WomenInMedicine #MedTwitter #medpeds 1/

As a med-peds hospitalist (ie 50% pediatrician) focusing on patient experience-specifically physician communication- and using the humanities for reflective practice I feel uniquely qualified to speak on this. 2/

These fields play into all of the gender stereotypes: children, relationships, the arts. They aren’t hard sciences. They’re soft, warm, fuzzy. They attract women physicians. And they are not valued. 3/

During the peak of #COVID my institution eliminated funding for all three of our physician patient experience positions. All women. 4/

I found #PatientExperience because I am an empath who became a patient. I found writing and reflection as a way to heal, to process my interactions with patients and to help others do the same. 5/

Why are we here if not for the patients? Who are we if we don’t take time for reflection and introspection? When will this work, essential for women and men, become a valued part of medicine? /End

P.S Here's the link to the article: https://www.journalofhospitalmedicine.com/jhospmed/article/225347/hospital-medicine/strategies-female-teaching-attending-physicians-navigate