136. Work-Life Integration with Orthopedic Surgeon Kathy Coyner

Picture of Dr. Kathy Coyner as the cover photo for episode 136 of the Madam Athlete podcast

 

 

Introducing Kathy Coyner

Today I’m talking to UConn orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kathy Coyner about work-life integration.

Her Career Journey

Kathy studied biochemistry and molecular biology at UMass where she also became the first UMass woman athlete to score over 1,000 points and have 500 assists. She earned her MD at Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine before her residency in orthopedic surgery at William Beaumont Hospital in Michigan. She completed her sports medicine surgical fellowship at Duke and relocated to Dallas at UT Southwestern Medical Center, covering the NHL Dallas Stars among others. She’s currently an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at UConn Health and a team physician for UConn Athletics. She’s a member of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society and is passionate about building the next generation of women in orthopedics.

Work-Life Integration

Kathy always makes time to help shape the next generation. When 160 additional students signed up for the chapter of the Perry Initiative that Kathy was starting in Connecticut, her boss encouraged her to make it work to avoid turning away 160 students. Inspiring Women in Engineering and Medicine (IWEM) was born and Kathy makes these additional commitments work by bringing her young daughter with, when necessary, showing both her daughter and the students what being a working mom can look like. Rather than calling this “work-life balance,” she prefers to call it “work-life integration.”

Inside this episode:

  • Kathy faced the first big decision of her life when she decided where to go to college and play basketball. She needed to find a school that would allow her to play while supporting her on her journey to becoming an orthopedic surgeon. Looking back, she knows her career wouldn’t have turned out any differently at any other program. 
  • She became the first woman resident in her orthopedics program. While naive to many of the challenges this would bring when she first arrived as a rotating med student, she learned that she needed to outperform her male colleagues. 
  • Through her work with the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society, Kathy has built a network with other women orthopedics across the country, and with the Perry Initiative, she’s helping to create a pipeline from the high school and medical school level to get bright women hooked on orthopedics. 
  • When talking about big job changes, Kathy reminds us that 50% of orthopedics will change jobs within 2 years and that very few jobs are “forever.” Underlying these changes could be disparities in pay for women that deserve to be talked about more openly.
  • She describes how a big job move totally changed the trajectory of her career by pushing her research and outreach to a higher level. Some of these changes came from the mentors she surrounded herself with. She advises women early in their careers to focus on developing these kinds of relationships.

Resources

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