On April 26th, Beijing United Family Hospital hosted a visit for the WEC’s Girls in STEMM participants at the Beijing United Family Tianzhu Clinic in Shunyi district.
The visit began with a warm welcome by Maggie Fu, Operation Manager, North Clinics, and Melissa Rodriguez, Patient Outreach and Education Manager, and Naturopathic Doctor, who took the students on a tour of the clinic. The tour included various facilities such as Family Medicine, specialty areas like ENT, Pediatrics, Dental, Dermatology, and the newly invested Rehab Center, which is used for rehabilitation training.
After the tour, Dr. Dev Akhbar, the Physical Therapist Director, talked about the history of UFH and interacted with the girls on the topic of diversity and inclusion. Dr. Dev also discussed common sports injuries that occur in everyday life and schools, and how to react in case of an injury.
Dr. Melissa Rodriguez introduced the girls to naturopathic medicine and complementary therapies. She also shared some valuable soft skills that are essential in the healthcare profession in order to become a professional doctor.
Dr. Aaron Soon, a Family Physician, shared his career in medicine with the girls and interacted with them on the topic of technology, demonstrating how to check for earwax using a portable device that can be displayed on a mobile phone or screen for quick diagnosis. He also shared some data on the gender gap in medical training and discussed his research that revealed the growing popularity of family medicine and the increasing demand for it in China.
After the presentations, the students had the opportunity to break up into small groups and interact with each doctor face-to-face, engaging in in-depth conversations about their professional career development, as well as their personal lives and how to balance work and life as a doctor. Meeting such a diverse group of medical professionals and observing their workday gives girls an inside perspective of what it takes to be a doctor and what drives them to do this incredibly challenging yet rewarding and essential job.
Having conversations with leaders and professionals working in different fields allows the girls to gain real-world knowledge about the options available to them before making life-changing decisions about their future academic and career paths.