A love letter to the field of gynecology in light of women’s history month.
“You want to look at vaginas all day?!”
Did that catch you off guard as you pondered whether or not you should click on this article? Well, imagine the surprise I felt when a 14-year-old asked me these exact words when she heard that I wanted to be a gynecologist.
As a person who’s most used word in the past year has actually been “interdisciplinary” (my friends can attest to my over-usage of this term), my majors and passions in life have followed suit.
Like the average pre-med, I too have chased after and am still behind the scientific machinations of pursuing research, going after scientific related opportunities, and perhaps the most relatable experience of them all: having the most delusional love-hate relationship with general chemistry.
Despite these challenges, I have found a sense of solace in the end result of becoming a gynecologist. Being someone who approaches life in a multidisciplinary manner, I make it a goal of mine to engage in various learning experiences whether or not it has to directly do with the sciences. A talk given by Lonnie G. Bunch III about his experiences with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture? I am so down. At the surface level, one could wonder why a pre-med is delving deep into something as unrelated as the history of museums. In contrast, I deeply believe that the liberal arts and social sciences play a major role in humanizing what it means to be a healer in the journey of becoming a practicing physician. Understanding the history and diverse life experiences directly translates into a perceptive, open-minded approach that influences one’s practices and lifestyle.
So, when I realized that I can combine my love for the activist aspect of women’s health with the reproductive sciences, I knew the profession was the perfect solution to fulfill the ever-growing love I have for reaching beyond what can be found in surface-level contexts.
As a gynecologist, you are constantly exposed to the idea that every day is going to be different. On some days, your patient is an old woman in her 60s that’s going through menopause and on other days, it’s a 35-year-old woman who needs help conceiving. Every patient has their own story to tell and to be involved in such processes is nothing short of invigorating. Women truly do evolve as they physically go through the cycle of life in all stages and to be a gynecologist means to witness such life-altering events.
Not to mention, as a young woman in the state of Texas, the ideals of women’s health have been especially highlighted in the past year in regard to abortion and reproductive rights. Even though some can argue that this is solely a policy issue (and to an extent, it is), I largely view this as a reflection of our healthcare system and the mechanisms that have gone into the makings of such a broken system. Pouring myself into the profession not only gives me the opportunity to work on the front end of women’s healthcare, but to also understand the politics that go into the system we are all immersed in.
To me, being a gynecologist means connecting with my feminist ideals while engaging in an endless, organic cycle of storytelling with women of all ages. As someone who looks for different stories and perspectives in the myriad of life experiences that make up our world, the field of gynecology has proved to be just that for me.
To be honest, I am still figuring myself out and where my career is going to take me. But if there’s anything I have learned in my journey so far, it’s the fact that I want to be there for all the women out there on the days when they feel like giving up and can’t persevere anymore. I want to be there for all the women out there whose resilience is unlike any kind of imaginable strength. For all the women that are slapped with the news that their child will not live to see the light of day, for all the women that are stigmatized for having pregnancy issues, for all the women who are forced to battle their bodies in order to bring a form of life into the world, and for all the women whose hope has never faltered despite the very fickle line that separates life and death.