Take a look either on www.j-jane.com, a wonderful site dedicated to women inspiring women, or see it here. Thanks to Jessica Stern for the highlight!
How did you choose the life you lead and was it a conscious decision?
I think I was encouraged as a child to choose a career and lifestyle that was going to be a positive one and an enjoyable one. My faith in God and my parents’ focus on our faith early on definitely helped the decision to live the life I live. I’d like to think it was a mixture of nature and nurture in choosing the life that I now lead… and favor from Jesus!
Why did you select your area of medical expertise? And what is the most challenging aspect of working in the healthcare field?
I always thought I would have been a Pediatrician from the time I was in High School. After getting into med school, however, and being exposed to different fields, I learned I had a love of OB-gyn medicine. The lifestyle, stress, and hours OBs kept, though, were deterrents. At the end of my 3rd year of med school, I did my Family Medicine rotation and had my “a-ha” moment. It was the perfect mix of seeing babies and their families, from the cradle to the grave, along with the option of delivering babies, if I wanted to. I haven’t turned back yet.
The most challenging aspect is the burden of taking care of those who don’t want to take care of themselves. Doctors, the good ones, often care more about patients than they do about themselves. It’s very frustrating, also, to be forced to have to see patients with extremely complicated medical histories in 15-20minutes in order to meet standards and see as many patients as possible to make ends meet. This is why many doctors are getting out of medicine nowadays.
What inspired you to author the book How To Avoid Superwoman Complex?
I wrote it both because of the interest I had in the topic myself as a new wife and mother with a full time job and because of the need to do something different in medicine. To be able to reach a broader audience and broaden my horizons a bit was important to me after close to a decade of practicing medicine and seeing patients day in and day out.
Do you feel women or society in general apply this enormous pressure on women to do it all? Let’s face it— men are not writing books about work, family, guilt, balance.
I think we’ve just been conditioned to do all and to take on the burden of the world all while sitting pretty and handling it. We often do this to ourselves also. We have to give up this idea of having to do everything for everyone, and then forgetting about “us” in the process.
Americans struggle with preventative health. We have high rates of diabetes, cancer and heart disease. What is your best advice to prevent disease?
Know your family history, exercise regularly, and have a reasonable diet.
What has been your greatest obstacle in life and how do/did you navigate it?
Losing my mother about 8 years ago, and working through my Faith and therapy to heal from it.
What has been your greatest life lesson learned to date?
To learn to be happy and joyful in the face of adversity and challenges. It’s an ongoing process.
What is your best advice on how to live a graceful life?
Pray, rest, laugh and love often. Smile a lot!
DocSwiner's Superwoman Complex Blog 
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