By: Maria Love, MS-1.

Maria Love is a 1st year podiatric medical student at Arizona College of Podiatric Medicine. She is currently Editor and Photojournalist for Hallux Magazine. She is also a finalist for the Women’s Month Scholarship.

Since the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States in 1849, women have made an impact on the field of podiatric medicine. The percentage of women in the profession has risen from 25% in 2015 to 50% in 2020, according to the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA). The number of women in podiatric medicine and surgery has increased and will continue to increase, quantifying the impact that women have made on the field. Women are not simply matriculating podiatric medical school and attending residency, but they are becoming senior physicians, attending physicians and board members. They are running private practices on their own, publishing research and holding leadership positions, such as president of APMA.

Women are not simply matriculating podiatric medical school and attending residency, but they are becoming senior physicians, attending physicians and board members.

I think women will continue to change the field of podiatric medicine by closing the gender gap, just like a vertical mattress suture. Women will do this by fighting for and receiving equal compensation as their male counterparts, while also applying for and receiving more awards and grants to publish more publications. I think women will hold higher academic standings and hold more leadership positions, not just in a hospital basis but on a national organizational basis. As women close the gender gap, there will be less discrimination based on gender, leading to less sexual harassment, which is changing the field for the better. This closure of the gender gap will inspire more women to join the field and make a greater impact, constantly improving it. By closing this gender gap, patient rapport will improve as the community at large sees women equal to men.

The impact that women have made in the field of medicine and STEM has influenced my future ambitions and career choice. Reading about women changing the field made it seem possible for me, a woman, an immigrant and a minority to not only join the field of podiatric medicine but to change the field for the better. Despite the impact women have made, I know I will have to continue this push and be actively involved in the profession while I become a well-trained physician and continue to make a name for women and fight for the statistics.

Reading about women changing the field made it seem possible for me, a woman, an immigrant and a minority to not only join the field of podiatric medicine but to change the field for the better.

I aspire to work in sports medicine, a male-dominant field. Knowing that women have overcome barriers and created change inspires me to work and fight for my future position as a female podiatric team physician and continue to seek out challenges. I not only aspire to be a physician, but I aspire to be a physician who stands out on top. At 27, I have published 7 scientific publications and am currently working on 5 more. I will be a highly published and respected physician who makes a grand impact in the scientific world and podiatric medicine. I am constantly pushing and challenging myself to see what odds I can overcome.

I not only aspire to be a physician, but I aspire to be a physician who stands out on top.

By Maria Love, MS–1

School: Arizona College of Podiatric Medicine

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