Why I Left Academic Medicine
I don’t have the typical story of “ever since I was little I’ve wanted to be an academic surgeon”. I had no idea what I really wanted to do growing up. I just knew I wanted to help people, was pragmatic and liked problem-solving. Growing up a poor immigrant with very driven parents, I was afforded access to spaces later in my development that opened up my horizons to finding the field of medicine. Through a series of serendipity, I ultimately became a urologist that specialized in comprehensive sexual health. Currently, there are only 6 of us in the country currently practicing with this unique training and platform. This training has helped me find my passion in medicine. The ability to innovate, and advocate especially on a topic I find so fun has been an absolute dream. I have always been very focused on creating access to care. For many, sexual health care is challenging to navigate and difficult to get evidence-based, compassionate care at affordable prices. I wanted to change that narrative. So I chose to go into academic instead of private practice like many of my peers do with our specific training. I wanted to provide sexual health for ALL for a fair price which meant working with insurances.
Well I lasted about two years but this was honestly 15 years in the making. Yes, I have been in medicine since I was 17 years old. Yes, I am a hotter, funnier and Blacker Doogie Howser. In classic Nigerian fashion, I started medical school at 17 years old at the only combined 6 year BLA/MD program in the US. Yes, we really do start seeing patients the first week of school. In my 15 years, I have learned many lessons but the a few take away points:
The traditional medical model was CREATED to exclude ALL marginalized groups
Literally, that’s the tea. Listen to any podcast, read any book or talk to anyone that takes care of ANY marginalized groups to find out more.
Academia is where dreamers go to die
I could write a whole memoir of the numerous stories of brilliant I minds being worn to the ground by the system. Many dreamers have come into academia with the idea of innovating, fixing problems and making the world a better place. They then leave burnt out and bitter- destroyed by the system meant to nurture and support them. Why do you think that is? We’ve all heard the excuse “the system is broken” as a means to explain the lack of promotion of women, the medical gaslighting of patients, the lack of minorities in medicine and the lack of acceptance of gender minorities within the field. The few dreamers try to start making changes to fix the system but then get burnt out and go do something else. Well, my hunch is that the “system” isn’t broken. It’s functioning exactly like it was meant to. Otherwise, how is it that so many people stay in academia for decades- moving up the ranks without issue or discontent (at least enough to leave)? It’s because they know the system and they know that although it’s “broken”- it directly benefits them. They could easily join you in trying to dismantle these systems of inequality but they instead do nothing or even stand in the way of progress under the guise of “well what can we do- it’s broken beyond measure”. I’ve always found this argument very frustrating. These people either lack the intelligence, creativity/ ingenuity or frankly care to even attempt the change. They leave the work to the few wanting to make the system better and watch as we leave in droves.
If you choose to take care of women you get compensated less.
This was really eye-opening. As one of the few urologists who takes care of all sexes and their sexual health, I was floored to see the stark differences between the sexes. Namely, women’s sexual health care and their health care in general is currently undergoing a public health crisis. Much of the science and clinical practices that we perform on women are outdated or strictly not founded in science. It has been a really fascinating phenomenon to see how much false information and dogma prevent women from getting evidence-based medical care. Not only is it a field rife with misinformation, the systematic inequality of pay and allocation of resources is abysmal. I know this because I directly compared my work with men and the compensation plan and my work with women and the compensation plan/resources. Many of the billing codes for my female patients didn’t even exist. That’s right- insurance doesn’t even acknowledge many of the diagnoses related to sexual dysfunction in women. And let’s not even go into the 10-minute medical model fueled by capitalism which makes the art of medicine and the privilege of taking care of people as impersonal and hurried as a 15-minute oil change. This complete depersonalization leaves patients frustrated and harmed and doctors facing moral injury. We want to spend more time with you but our administrators want us to think of these people as fast food orders. Volume over quality.
Frankly, the medical system is outdated and needs a shake-up. I have always fought the system. The same system that told me that I couldn’t be a surgeon because of my gender and race. The same system that continues to do harm to innocent people while blaming them for their suffering. The funny thing about the “system” is that it was made up. We keep upholding systems created by guys named Charles or Arthur who didn’t even have Google. We can change the system at any time but the powers that be just refuse to because there isn’t pressure to change. I realized that constantly fighting the system to obtain resources, time, personnel, and finances to support my work was a waste of my time. If I want to change the system, I have to work outside of it. I have always looked outside of medicine to industries like tech that are staying up to date with the current times. They are creating solutions for problems that we have today instead of spending their time going through bureaucratic bullshit. By the time you’ve waded through all the red tape, you’re so exhausted. My next move will continue to do this but without trying to work with a system not meant for me. I now have room to spread my wings, find the other dreamers and build a world I’ve always dreamt of but without any of the red tape and bullshit excuses.
