44. Dr. Suzanne Koven on the importance of writing in medicine, how things have changed for women since she trained and how there's still room for improvement, and so much more!
Moms of Medicine
"It’s really just an extension of the general ethos in medicine which has existed for a very long time – generations, centuries - which says that in order to make other people well we have to make ourselves sick. That is only recently being questioned. "
This episode is with Dr. Suzanne Koven who was a primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital for over 30 years, has had a prolific literaray career and now serves as the Writer in Residence of Massachusetts General Hospital full time.
In this episode we talk about:
- Her experience having a baby in residency
- Pre-eclampsia
- Being asked to write her own maternity leave policy
- Her feelings about going part time and what her primary care patients thought about this
- What it was like to retire from clinical medicine (spoiler alert - she doesn't miss it)
- How she got started in her literary career
- The importance of sharing stories
- Her book Letter to a Young Female Physician and how that came about
- The memoir that she is currently writing
Connect with Moms of Medicine:
- Instagram @moms_of_medicine
- Momsofmedicine@gmail.com
Connect with Dr. Suzanne Koven:
- Instagram @kovensuzanne
