Revisiting October’s Insights: “Interventional Cardiology – Women’s Perspective”
Roxana Mehran: Does interventional cardiology have to be that brutal? Does it really have to be that brutal so that no one could have a family life and balance? We will lose the workforce if we continue in this direction. And that means we need to recruit more people, not less people, train more, and share the wealth amongst everyone. Unfortunately, the power of being the highest volume operator… Pounding the chest. The power of being on call and answering emails at 3 o’clock in the morning because I’m a hard worker is what makes us big and strong, but actually, it’s weakening the workforce, the mental health. The idea that we are doing better for our patients is absolutely lost. We really need to completely reboot the system. Interventional cardiology should not be this difficult that you cannot have a life at home, for men too. Come on, guys – you don’t have to work that hard. And I think that’s the issue because when you do that, then who? How many of us women have wives at home? We don’t, okay… And so it’s really important that there is a sharing of this. This isn’t a man’s fault; it’s a cultural change and a rebooting of the system.