Pro IQRA News Updates.
A surgeon shared her journey as she overcame stereotypes in a predominantly male field on her way to creating her own medical reality game show.
Dr. Erin Nance always knew she wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon and she never stopped striving to break the mold in her male-dominated field.
3
3
3
Inspired by the doctor she met after breaking her arm at age seven, Nance—who runs her own clinic in New York City—specializes in hand and upper limb surgery but also provides traditional orthopedic care.
She spoke EXCLUSIVELY to The US Sun ahead of International Women’s Day about her journey from an aspiring surgeon to owning her own business to developing her new reality TV show featuring doctors.
“I knew from a young age that I wouldn’t settle for things just because I was female — because I knew I deserved better,” Nance told The US Sun.
“I didn’t know when I was eight years old that this field was 94% male.
“I just knew this was something I wanted to do.”
Nance shared that the field of orthopedics has been 94 percent male for over 30 years.
She said it was “the last bastion of medicine that is almost entirely male”.
“The needle didn’t move for a very long time when the surgeons attended.”
A common misconception
The field of orthopedics itself, Nance explained, “is not an inherently masculine field or concept.”
“There’s nothing about using tools that you can only be male to do.
“A lot of people have this misconception that it takes a lot of strength to do things… You can handle most things in orthopedics with just excellent technique and skills other than strength, for example.”
However, Nance didn’t let this misconception and accompanying stereotypes stop her.
In fact, Nance depended on other women in the field as she rose through the ranks from medical school to professional.
“If I’m struggling with something,” she said, “I’ll ask someone else for help.”
“We do things as a team, the field of orthopedics is not an individual sport.
“You don’t have to know how to do something 100 percent down the road.”
Empowering women through their work
Despite being a woman in the minority in her field, Nance has found ways to empower other women through her work.
“It’s incredible to think that even a doctor can have an evolving career,” Nance said.
Emerging from Covid — a time for health professionals that Nance described as a “really dark time for medicine” — Nance turned her energy to a new endeavor.
“Now, three years later, I really want to celebrate and even enjoy medicine,” she said.
After taking the time to ask herself what she loves to do, Nance decides to start her own media company.
“I love working and I love watching reality cooking TV shows,” she said, so she decided to marry the two.
She wanted to create a show that would show the different sides of doctors.
“They’re funny, silly, and competitive,” she said.
“I wanted to create a show where people would be inspired by these doctors because of who they are as doctors and people.”
The show – which is currently in development – is called Under the Knife.
It’s a medical reality game show, said Nance, “that’s meant to be fun and along the lines of” shows like Double Dare.
With this new endeavor, she aims to achieve “indifference and escapism in medicine” while “lifting the veil over what it’s like to be a doctor.”
It’s all about “celebrating the Doctor’s vulnerability — which isn’t something we’re seeing currently,” Nance said.
International Women’s Month
March may be International Women’s Month, but there are a few other holidays Nance mentioned, including National Gynecologists’ Day, which is celebrated on February 3.
“I hope to see the day when it doesn’t have to be a day,” said Nance, adding that she is “looking forward to that holiday becoming obsolete.”
“I hope to continue to see stories like this throughout the year,” she said, not just during the month of March.
As a woman largely surrounded by men in her field, Nance also shared words of wisdom to other ladies in a similar situation.
“It’s really important to surround yourself with people who raise your voice,” she said.
“The most important part is appearing as your true self.”
.