As March draws to a close, so too does Women’s History Month, known to many as “Her-story”. I struggled to find the words and sentiment for this post, largely because I promised my eldest daughter, Linda, that I would not publicize her latest achievement — privately telling her that only a handful of people would learn of her latest accomplishment. She’s humble, and I get it, yet her latest and most impressive achievement coincided with the great strides women have made in recent years so it seemed appropriate that I break my silence and quite possibly deal with her misgivings later. A few weeks ago, Linda was promoted to Chief of Surgical Operations at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, making her the youngest female doctor to rise to such prominence at a major metropolitan hospital in the United States. In point of fact, she could be the youngest doctor to have reached that position, breaking through the so-called “glass ceiling” that holds back so many other female doctors, all by the age of 41.
As Chief of Surgical Operations she works with her fellow surgical heads in a variety of roles, and helps to flesh out the one-two punch that the Chief of Surgery position entails. My daughter. Just as importantly, Parkland has and quite possibly will always be known as the hospital in which JFK expired, not exactly something you want to crow about in the medical community. So, by becoming Chief of Surgical Operations it is my hope, nay dream, that Parkland will also be forever known as the hospital that gave a young doctor from New York a chance at living out her own dreams, demonstrating that women of any creed, faith or background can do just as good as job as any man, despite the prejudice some still harbor. I’m sorry, Linda, if I broke my promise by claiming I would remain mum about your latest accomplishment. I just thought it was high time the world knew just how good a surgeon you are, just six years after completing your fellowship at Hopkins and how the torch of womanhood was ably passed on to you. Way to go Linny…
