Episode 9: Women in Medicine and Women's Health

Meg:

This month, because March is Women’s History Month, we decided to focus the episode on amazing and accomplished women in the medical field as well as prominent women’s health issues! It was so amazing to get to learn about how these passionate and innovative women revolutionized medicine! It was interesting to gain insight on how Marie Curie helped bring X-Ray machines to the front lines during World War 1, and how Patricia Bath was the first ever black woman to obtain a medical patent in 1988 for the laserphaco probe. Furthermore, Flossie Wong-Staal’s mapping of HIV was so significant, and helped to determine that AIDS is caused by HIV. I think it was also so important to become educated on prominent women’s health issues experienced by so many. Hearing about how maternal health is neglected due to physical proximity, access to healthcare, and other factors is an important issue that needs to be addressed. Furthermore, I was unaware of how significantly osteoporosis affects women, and found it interesting that the disease is more common in women due to estrogen, a hormone that protects bones, and decreases when women begin menopause. The Breast Cancer statistics were also something I found shocking. I had learned about Breast Cancer when we did our October 2020 episode, but it is so important to remember how many women are affected by it.

Eshaan:

This month being Women’s History Month, Meg and I decided to focus on the women who have had a big impact on the medical field. Additionally, we also included some prevalent women’s health issues. It was so interesting to learn about the accomplished women in medicine. The women we talked about, Marie Curie Patricia Bath, and Flossie Wong-Staal, are just three of the many accomplished women! When researching each woman, it was very intriguing to see how they impacted the medical field and the legacy they left behind. For example, surgeons who remove eye cataracts are forever in debt to Patricia Bath as she was the woman who created the Laserphaco Probe system. This system makes removed eye cataracts in the Operating Room much more efficient and more successful. Because of this machine, millions of people around the world are able to have their vision be restored. I think that these women deserve a lot of credit for their work as they have been able to make revolutionary changes to the medical field. Flossie Wong-Staal helped with the discovery of HIV, which has affected so many people. Additionally, with the help of her daughter, Marie Curie was able to help soldiers who were wounded during World War I by diagnosing them quicker through the X-Ray machine. It was also interesting to learn about the different health issues women suffer from. Meg and I were already familiar with Breast Cancer, as we did an episode regarding that in October 2020. What shocked me most when researching was osteoporosis. Before researching, I had heard about osteoporosis, but never knew what it was. After researching, I was shocked at the damage and pain one has to go through with osteoporosis. It was also very shocking to learn about maternal health and how many countries are still in need of proper maternal health. Overall, there are so many accomplished women in the medical field who have made brilliant discoveries/inventions, and there are definitely prominent women in all workplaces who continue to break barriers everyday.