Episode 17: Managing Family & Cultural Expectations

Making the decision to become a doctor is hard by itself, but it can be even more difficult when faced with conflicting family, cultural, social, economic, religious, and gender expectations. In this episode, we dive into some of these topics, sharing a lot of the personal and family challenges we faced — like Zulma getting the cold shoulder from her dad when she decided to go away to college, and Marina grappling with religious ideas about gender roles when deciding whether to go to medical school.

Here’s a breakdown of the issues we tackle:

1:00 What if you worry that it takes too long and it’s too expensive to become a doctor?

14:20 What if you worry that people like you just don’t become doctors? Plus, the challenges of identity when moving up in the world.

31:40 The stresses of education and upward social mobility (including guilt!)

41:40 Dealing with cultural and religious gender expectations. Plus, countering common gender myths like “You can’t be a doctor and a good mom,” and how traditional gender expectations hurt both men and women.