In 1979 after a 2 week rotation on the urology service in medical school I decided I wanted to be a urologist. I went to medical school to be a geriatrician but the pace of internal medicine was slow for me. I really liked General Surgery but never once considered being surgeon. When I had my urology experience I found “my place”. The patients were generally older and while it was a surgical specialty, there was a lot of medical management and procedures that did not involve open surgery. I found the bladder fascinating. I was aware that none of the residents or faculty were women but not terribly worried about that. Most persons reactions to my decision to be a urologist were that I could take care of women and/or children which of course I bristled at. The residency at Iowa had trained one woman the previous decade so I wouldn’t be the first. I was putting all of my eggs in one basket as my husband was in a PhD program at Iowa and I didn’t consider myself mobile.
The Chair of the Department told be about a woman who was in private practice in Spencer in NW Iowa. Dr. Mary Gannon had gone to medical school at Iowa and completed her urology residency at the University of Wisconsin. Dr Gannon finished her residency in 1970 and joined a practice in Souix City IA. It quickly became clear that the situation was not going to be a good one for her so with her sister’s help she opened a practice in Spencer where there was no urology care. She took care of men, women and children and built a thriving practice. Her success was a key foundational piece of my confidence that I could be a successful urologist in Iowa.
I had lunch with Dr. Gannon today in her home in the Chicago area. We had not seen each other in 40 years but had kept “loosely in touch” over the decades. Our paths went in wildly different directions than anticipated. Dr. Gannon ended up retraining to be an addiction specialist and psychotherapist and I did not practice general urology in Iowa. I did in fact end up specializing in urologic care for women and had to leave Iowa to get fellowship training – never to return to practice.
We updated each other on our journeys and spent some time discussing our shared challenges training to be urologists. She had much more difficulty finding a job out of residency than I did. She did not marry or have children so she did not face those challenges. In the end, we each did what we had to do to make it through training. We had a easy 3 hour conversation over lunch. She had sage advice for me with respect to how I approach the next couple of months when I return to Nashville – take it slowly as I create the next chapter of my life. While I had been thinking that taking these 3 months off and traveling as giving me the space I needed, she suggested that I needed to give myself a couple of months in Nashville to work on building my community and see how the seeds I have planted during my travels begin to grow.
I have been beginning to feel pressure that I needed the pieces to fall into place pretty quickly once I get back to Nashville so her suggestion really resonated with me. The last 2 years at the NIDDK were traumatic for me and while I am in a much better place emotionally that I was 3 months ago, I have had a lot of diversions and support during my travels. I need to give myself time to see where I am without all of the distractions.
It was important to me to be able to tell Dr. Gannon how her accomplishments had positively impacted my early career. She gave me another gift with her advice to “take it slow” based on her experience in working traumatized persons who end up with addictions.
I received another type of gift today – the opportunity to try a Peloton – both a class and a scenic ride. I have not really enjoyed the few spinning classes I have taken but have several friends who rave about their Pelotons. I tried a 15 min class and did a 2.5 mile scenic ride. Perhaps it is not surprising that the scenic ride was more engaging for me than the class. The Peloton was more comfortable for me than other stationary cycles so perhaps I can find a used Peloton. I don’t trust that I would really use it enough to justify buying a new one. At least I now know that the “ride” is comfortable enough to warrant consideration.
Tomorrow I am off to Lake Geneva, WI for a couple of days which will hopefully include at least 2 bike rides if weather cooperates. There was more torrential rain here today. Tomorrow, there is a chance of rain until 5 PM at Lake Geneva and the predicted rain for Wed and Thursday has vanished. I really want to finish my trip with daily cycling so I will “need” it every day when I get back. Fortunately, Nashville weather does not look oppressive next week when I return.
Tamara Unleashed 