{"id":410,"date":"2017-01-29T14:08:31","date_gmt":"2017-01-29T19:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=410"},"modified":"2017-02-23T12:18:37","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T17:18:37","slug":"special-feature-women-in-cardiology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=410","title":{"rendered":"Women in Cardiology"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Slow Rise of Female Cardiologists<\/h1>\n

By Lorna Oppedisano<\/em><\/p>\n

When Dr. Uzma Iqbal, a cardiologist associated with St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital Health Center, interviewed for her cardiology fellowship, she was met with unsettling warnings from two women already established in the field. Uzma had been married for seven years. She and her husband had postponed starting a family.<\/p>\n

The first woman, who hadn\u2019t had children, asked Uzma, \u201cWhat are you trying to do? Don\u2019t do this to yourself.\u201d The second woman had adopted children.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, this is a white boys\u2019 field. What are you trying to do?\u201d she asked Uzma.<\/p>\n

When Uzma left the interviews, she marched straight to the chairman\u2019s office and pulled her application.<\/p>\n

Uzma is one of a little more than a handful of women working in a male-dominated field. The story is a common one: in this field, women are outnumbered by men, and tend to make less money for the same amount of work.<\/p>\n

A few months before Uzma\u2019s medicine residency finished, she received a call from the cardiology chairman. Her interviews had gone well, and although she\u2019d pulled her application, there was a spot for her if she wanted it. She loved the field. Her husband agreed she should follow her passion, and in 2001, Uzma started the three-year program. She\u2019s still in the field today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [the field of cardiology has] changed quite a bit,\u201d Uzma said. \u201cIt\u2019s still got a long way to go. It\u2019s like any field where there are more men than women, and most of the fields are like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a recent study, more than half of students in medical schools are women, she said. However, only about 13 percent of all cardiologists are women. When Uzma started her career in Syracuse, she was one of only two female cardiologists in the area. Now, there are eight.<\/p>\n

Dr. Anshu Shridhar, a cardiologist at Syracuse VA Medical Center since 2011, is one of them. She completed her residency and fellowship at SUNY Upstate Medical University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fortunate that I trained through Upstate,\u201d Anshu said, \u201cbecause I think they do focus on female cardiologists. Every year, we do try to get one or two female fellows.\u201d<\/p>\n

She sees increasingly more women joining the profession, Anshu said. They usually lean toward the niche of noninvasive cardiology, which helps to strike a balance between work and family, she added.<\/p>\n

The women agree this balance between professional and home life is among the most challenging aspects of being a woman in the field.<\/p>\n

According to a study released by the American College of Cardiology early last year, \u201cfemale cardiologists are less likely than their male counterparts to get married and have children and more likely to face challenges related to child care, family leave policies and professional discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study found that 15 percent of female cardiologists are single, as compared to only five percent of male cardiologists. Similar surveys conducted in 1996 and 2006 concluded that those numbers have not changed significantly in the last two decades.<\/p>\n

Another major challenge female cardiologists face is lack of equal pay. The same study by the American College of Cardiology reported that 63 percent of women have experienced past discrimination, \u201csuch as receiving a lower salary than others in their cohort or being passed up for promotion.\u201d While that proportion dropped from 71 percent in 1996 and 69 percent in 2006, it\u2019s still much higher than the male discrimination rate, which remained at a steady 22 percent throughout the decades.<\/p>\n

Anshu put it simply. \u201cWhen you\u2019re putting in as many work hours as your male counterpart, why aren\u2019t you paid the same amount?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Along with working toward fairer earnings, Uzma pointed out that mentorship is useful in welcoming more women into the field.<\/p>\n

Thinking back her start in cardiology and those two interviews, Uzma realizes the women were trying to help her. That being said, she wishes she\u2019d had more female mentorship. She would have appreciated advice on \u201cjust little things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBreast feeding was a big thing,\u201d she explained. \u201cI didn\u2019t know where to pump.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American College of Cardiology now has a Women in Cardiology Member Section and Leadership Council that aims to provide more mentorship and leadership coaching to women in the field. Until Uzma heard a woman suggest some sort of assistance at home was crucial, she\u2019d felt guilty about needing help.<\/p>\n

Now Uzma strives to help younger women entering cardiology, giving them advice on the seemingly small details she\u2019d struggled with.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen have to empower women,\u201d Uzma said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the way the field\u2019s going to grow.\u201d SWM <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information on the American College of Cardiology\u2019s Women in Cardiology Member Section and Leadership Council, visit acc.org\/membership\/sections-and-councils\/women-in-cardiology-section<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Slow Rise of Female Cardiologists By Lorna Oppedisano When Dr. Uzma Iqbal, a cardiologist associated with St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital Health Center, interviewed for her cardiology fellowship, she was met with unsettling warnings from two women already established in the field. Uzma had been married for seven years. She and her husband had postponed starting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[168],"class_list":["post-410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-february-2017"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/syracuse-women-magazine-logo-jan-17-smallest.jpg?fit=445%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2253,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2253","url_meta":{"origin":410,"position":0},"title":"Special feature: Women in cardiology","author":"Sarah Hall","date":"February 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"When Dr. Amy Tucker first started practicing medicine 30 years ago, women were vastly underrepresented, both in medicine in general and in her specialization, cardiology. \u00a0\u201cWhen I entered medical school, women were still in the minority,\u201d said Dr. Tucker, who is now the chief medical officer at Upstate Medical University.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=101"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/mdg20190108-32.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/mdg20190108-32.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/mdg20190108-32.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/mdg20190108-32.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/mdg20190108-32.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2256,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2256","url_meta":{"origin":410,"position":1},"title":"The future of women in cardiology","author":"Sarah Hall","date":"February 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"While there may be a serious lack of women in cardiovascular medicine\u2014both in practice and in research\u2014right now, the future looks much brighter, if students like Syracuse University\u2019s Plansky Huong are any indication. 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