Why did you decide to pursue a career in OB/GYN?
When I first graduated from college and moved to Seattle, I was working for a mountaineering company and volunteered one afternoon a week at Planned Parenthood. The experience of working with the doctors and patients there identified my desire to work in the field of reproductive health care. I specifically chose OB/GYN for the unique combination of primary care, surgery, obstetrics and reproductive health that are combined in this specialty.
What do you like about working at UW Medicine?
UW Medicine provides access to talented colleagues in a comprehensive array of specialties and subspecialties. Additionally, UW Medicine allows for collaboration outside of the medical school with the many related departments within the University. This allows for a broad range of innovation and creativity for problem solving of all sorts.
What are your favorite things about living in the Seattle area?
I initially moved to Seattle for the outdoors. As a former mountaineer and current hiker and overall nature lover, it's still amazing to have so much right nearby the city. Now, I also appreciate how Seattle is so well neighborhooded, creating smaller communities within the larger one. I appreciate the incredible restaurants and coffee shops. I appreciate that Seattlites have a more than average concern for social justice and environmental isues. Seattle remains a very comfortable and physically lovely place to live and work and raise a family.
What inspires you?
I am privileged to be inspired daily by the truly talented people with whom I work. I find inpsiration in all the diverse groups of people and individuals fighting for social and reproductive justice. A guiding principle in work is the quotation by Margaret Sanger: "No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.”
