“When I told the chair of surgery that I wanted to do surgery, he said “Going west may be a good idea.” In the late 1980’s, there were very few women that had graduated from surgery residency programs in the south. Some of my friends were horrified that he told me that, but I wasn’t angry. I took it as good advice. My goal was to become a surgeon and I did not see why I had to make that path harder than it already was. ⠀
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I am the first person in my family to go into medicine so I did not have many mentors or role models in medicine growing up. I was introduced to surgery while attending a health care awareness program after my freshman year of high school. My hobbies were sewing and cross-stitch and I thought it was great that I could have a job where I sewed. ⠀
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My father was in the Air Force and I also joined after my sophomore year to help cover costs for college. I knew I wanted to be a doctor throughout college but didn’t have much guidance on how to become one. I enrolled in classes I thought I should take and took the MCAT without much preparation.
I did not get into medical school at first. While I was figuring out other plans, I was taken off the wait list and enrolled at the Medical University of South Carolina. I did surgical residency at Wilford Hall, finished trauma fellowship in 1998 and was on staff at Wilford Hall for 9 years before coming to UT Health San Antonio as trauma faculty. ⠀
Students see us where we are now and don’t often see our evolution as a physician and person. For a long time I wanted to fit in and not stand out to make it through but now I know that I need to be the one speaking up. As women, we shouldn’t feel like we need to be like men to be a surgeon. Mentorship and supporting others is important. We should not distance ourselves from engaging on things we are passionate about. We can affect change through subtle actions to encourage the future to be better.”
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Story: Amita Shah, Photos: Sujaan Lal, Deb Mueller
Want to learn more about becoming a surgeon? Check out:
Association of Women Surgeons: https://www.womensurgeons.org/
So you want to be a surgeon?: https://www.facs.org/education/resources/residency-search
Read Part 2 & 3 of Dr. Mueller’s story:
https://sapeopleproject.org/dr-mueller-antarctica/
https://sapeopleproject.org/dr-deborah-mueller-trauma-surgeon/