Speaker 1
I get to work with amazing people who are amazing in so many ways. Amazing colleagues, amazing physicians, amazing teachers.
Speaker 2
It seems like every day there's new opportunities, new things to learn, new projects to get involved in, new people to connect with.
Speaker 3
I feel very supported at my work environment and I know if I need anything that my colleagues would help and cover, and it's just a really good place to be.
Speaker 4
The culture of Wake, I would say, is friendly and collaborative. It's a very supportive environment.
Speaker 5
There's never been any time where I've felt that I couldn't reach out to whether it be my peers, my mentors, my attendings, the faculty. It's such a close-knit environment and I feel that really helps support you when you're going through your training.
Speaker 1
A couple years ago was a group of women residents who were sort of yearning for time with each other and learning from each other and their own experiences. And they came to me and said, "You know, we have this group and we're looking for a mentor. Would you be interested?" And I jumped at the opportunity.
Speaker 3
I benefited from a very similar program at my fellowship, and it really impacted me, I think, professionally in many ways. I learned a lot of skills through that group. It helped with some of my choices in career and when I was looking for the next step. And so I think the opportunity for me to be involved in something like that here at Wake was really important.
Speaker 5
Women of Wake had an event very early on in the year last year, and so I attended that. It was such a wonderful experience. Not only did I get to meet my co-residents, the new interns, I met the faculty, the fellows, and they all kind of welcomed me with open arms. They showed me the ins and outs of the university, of the Winston-Salem area. And that was my first experience with Women at Wake.
Speaker 4
It can be really overwhelming when you're just one person trying to find your niche. So when I heard of Women of Wake, I thought it was just a great way to enter a group and find a group to start with, really. A group that I knew would be supportive and to help people at all levels, interns, residents, faculty, fellows, and connect you to what's out there and just introduce you to the things that are going on at Wake.
Speaker 2
So many times there's one story that we're told about how we have to behave and how our career path has to go. And my path didn't follow any typical trajectory. And I want to be able to tell the story that you can weave and zig and zag and change diapers and take time off and do all those things and still have a great career.
Speaker 6
I think mentorship specifically between women is so important, because it allows an opportunity to envision yourself years ahead, and kind of see what the opportunities are that you can grow into on a very personal and real level.
Speaker 5
We look up to somebody who is senior to us and kind of mold our experiences based on their experiences and get that guidance. So it just feels very, very natural to find that female mentorship.
Speaker 3
I hope Women of Wake continues to put on a lot of great events like we have, both formal and informal. And I'm excited because I really think that the mentorship part of it's going to continue to grow. I think this past year we've seen a lot of great connections happen between faculty and other faculty, and faculty and trainees at multiple levels. And I'm excited to see what the next events we plan for the coming years.
Speaker 1
I can't wait to hear the new ideas that each resident brings with them. We're constantly expanding our offerings, doing things like Article Club at faculty members' houses, different panel discussions on how to negotiate your first job, and all different ways of facilitating our growth as women in medicine. And I look forward to many more exciting opportunities to come.
