In 2021, women are still often faced with the question of choosing between a family and a career. This young surgeon from Texas encourages all women to go their own way without having to give up either. In the interview, she talks openly about the demands she places on herself, fears, and what drives her to keep going.
Interview by Sarah Polzer
Dr. Bankhead, in 2013, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) established the GlobalSurg Collaborative, a network that has now grown to more than 15,000 practicing surgeons from all corners of the globe - how does it feel to be a part of it?
It is such an absolute honor to be part of the GlobalSurg family. The international community that had been established before COVIDSurg started was grounded in hard working individuals doing quality research for wide applicability. With the inception of COVIDSurg, this initiative only grew, as we had such a single common global focus and drive. I have loved that everything that COVIDSurg is about is providing quality, large scale, evidence-based data to better ensure perioperative care for our surgical patients.
How did you find out about the network back then?
I found out about the network by – Twitter! In March 2020, when COVID-19 first hit the U.S., I was commenting on a friend’s account that we really should be doing research regarding surgical COVID-19 patients. This friend, by twitter, introduced me to Aneel Bhangu* who was establishing a new research network under the umbrella of GlobalSurg, that would be looking entirely at COVID-19 patients. From there, our group went on to organize our efforts, name this team, and produce amazing research. In the early days I remember how important it was to not only have this group as a research network, but as a clinical one as well. Surgeons and anesthesiologists were sharing their expertise from China and Italy and that was invaluable; it was all we had at the time to know what was coming.
* Aneel Bhangu is a senior lecturer and consultant surgeon, as well as head of the Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery of the National Institute for Health Research at the University of Birmingham and later he became also head of the COVIDSurg Collaborative.
You are very active on social media - what is your ambition?
Social media has absolutely afforded me so many professional opportunities that I am very grateful for. COVIDSurg is my go-to example of that, as I would have never found this group without the help of Twitter during the middle of the pandemic. Additionally, my story in the New Yorker came through an acquaintance of mine on Twitter, as well. I try to give a very real image on my social media, and hopefully I am inspiring to those who haven’t seen examples of women or moms who also have a strong presence in the academic community.
In an article that appeared in the Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, you spoke very candidly about the impact the pandemic had on your personal life. Post-traumatic stress disorder was also addressed. The fact that you are so open about the subject is very courageous on the one hand, and at the same time shows that we will have to struggle with it for a long time to come. How do you personally deal with it?
Yes, I have chosen to speak up in several national outlets about my struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder from being a frontline healthcare worker during COVID-19. I was very nervous to do so- as I did not know what the professional ramifications might be, and I also did not know how it would be perceived by the public eye. Ultimately though, it was important to me for several reasons. One, that the public and general population is able to see that what we have been doing for over a year now has had more than just a physical toll on us- it is an emotional and mental burden that many of us carry for long after these patients have left the hospital. Two, to share a story that is not just my own; the story of post-traumatic stress disorder from COVID-19 patients is a frequent one and many of my colleagues are nervous (as I was) to talk about this publicly. I feel like sharing it gives all of us validation in a way, and hope that any health care worker feeling they may be the only one experiencing this, can know that they are not at all alone and to reach out before it becomes too large of a burden to bear on their own. And finally, sharing this has honestly helped me to heal personally.
After all the impressions you have gathered in the past year and a half of the pandemic - what lessons do you draw from it?
Goodness, there is bountiful information and unending principles and things to have learned from the pandemic. I think overall, I have learned that public outreach and speaking up on behalf of our profession is very important, and that no one knows better than those on the front lines what the dangers are to our population. The COVID-19 pandemic also afforded us the opportunity to evaluate healthcare systems and ways to improve them, as well as our research initiatives and why it is so important to be able to quickly and effectively disseminate new information, but without losing the peer review process in the interim.
You are now in your first job with a leading role. What experiences have you had along the way that have particularly stuck in your mind?
The two most significant experiences I have gone through in my career thus far are the birth of my children, Knox & Tinsley, during training; Knox was my medical school baby, and I had 6 weeks off before I started my internal medicine rotation and was studying for the Step two clinical skills exam. Tinsley was my residency baby as a fourth-year surgery resident, I had six weeks off with her as well. Both pregnancies, deliveries, and postpartum time with a newborn were trying in their own ways, and more than anything I wanted to prove to my newborn babies, my colleagues at work, and myself that I could be all of those roles perfectly in tandem. In truth, I could never do them all fully as well as I wanted, but over time I gave myself grace and found a balance in life, where I could be these things sequentially, or sometimes even in tandem, depending on the day.
Being an intensive care physician during the height of COVID-19, during the two large surges that we experienced in the United States, was the second most significant experience I’ve had thus far. The amount of death and despair from our patients and their families, combined with the fear for our own lives and those of our families, was something I will never forget and that will always be a part of me. Those moments forever shaped me and are part of my story in both formative and transformative ways.
How did you find your way into medicine?
I have always wanted to be a doctor! In the little kindergarten “about me” book my parents kept, I say that “I want to be a doctor when I grow up!” As time went on, the long path and difficult course made me re-evaluate a few different times and consider other options in healthcare, like pharmacy school and physician assistant school, as well as non-healthcare options, like business and engineering. Ultimately, both my heart and mind agreed that none of these things would ever fulfil me like going to medical school would, no matter how long the path. Any time it was extra hard, and my friends were well into their careers when I was still in school, my mom always asked me, “So if you were not here. What else would you be doing?” This was a reminder that no matter where else in the world I would be, I would never be as happy as I was in medical school and in my journey to becoming a physician.
What made you decide to go into trauma and critical care surgery?
I chose trauma surgery and critical care because I love taking care of the full aspect of the patient and operating on every part of the body. I never wanted to lose the ability to take care of the full patient, so being an intensivist gives me the ability to work with complex physiology in surgical patients, as well. Invariably, we also take care of all medical intensive care problems also, since often our surgical patients will have these comorbidities. I also enjoy the schedule that the academic model of trauma and acute care surgery affords me: it allows me to be a mom and a doctor. I can work hard when I am at work and be fully present at home with my kids, when I am not.