Page 11 - Women Unlimited | Rochester Medicine | University of Rochester Medical Center

As a student at the University of Rochester School of “My experiences at other institutions were not as
Medicine and Dentistry, Linda Chaudron didn’t give supportive of the challenges of being a breastfeeding
much thought to being a woman. More than 40 percent mom on the interview trail, and those experiences
of her class was female. contributed to my choice of where I wanted to start my
career as a faculty member.”
But gender became an issue during her second year in
medical school. Since then Chaudron, whose clinical and research
expertise is in women’s mental health, especially
Chaudron wanted to schedule a conference on women on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, has been
in medicine, but was told by male leadership there in several leadership roles to help influence culture,
wouldn’t be enough interest. climate, diversity, and inclusion.
“That didn’t sit well with me,” she says. As senior associate dean for diversity at the medical

She told a female administrator about the exchange school, she worked to expand the diversity efforts then
and learned she could go to every department chair focused on faculty to students, residents, and post-docs.
and ask for money as a show of support. Chaudron When Chaudron took on her current role as vice
estimates she likely raised four times as much as she president for Inclusion and Culture at the medical center
would have received otherwise. and senior associate dean for Inclusion and Culture at
the medical school, her reach became even broader.
That money sponsored a half-day conference, at which Linda H. Chaudron
senior women faculty from different disciplines shared “And this job continues to be an evolution,” she says. (MD ’92)
their career stories and where they saw the future of Chaudron’s accomplishments earned her the Susan B. Senior Associate Dean for Inclusion
medicine headed for the next generation. Anthony Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 for her and Culture

“That adversity was a great thing, because it made work as a champion of women in science and medicine. Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics,
and Obstetrics and Gynecology
me learn how things really work when it comes to As Chaudron moves steadily forward with initiatives to University of Rochester School of
administration, funding, and persistence,” she says. better the work environment for women and for other Medicine and Dentistry
“It’s probably led me on the path I’m on.” groups who are historically underrepresented in medicine Vice President for Inclusion and

Interestingly, Chaudron came to work at the School and science, she keeps close the lessons learned from Culture in the Office of VP for
Health Sciences
of Medicine and Dentistry in part because of support her conference-planning medical-school days. University of Rochester Medical
she received while interviewing for her first faculty “That was a pivotal experience for me in terms of Center
position. As a new mother who needed to pump my advocacy,” she says. “Now as an administrator,
breastmilk for her 3-month-old son, she was provided I realize I’m not always in tune with what’s important
a faculty office and time to pump. She also recalls one to students or other trainees. We really have to listen
male faculty member acknowledging the difficulty in to them.”
being away from her baby.

and personal challenges,” writes McAnarney, distinguished university professor and chair emerita of the
Department of Pediatrics, in the book’s preface.

The book features 29 physicians, including Rochester alums such as O.J. Sahler (MD ’71, Flw ’77), the George Washington Goler
Professor of Pediatrics, whose story is representative of many profiled in the book. As one of only two women in her medical school
class of 75 students at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, Sahler’s journey was rife with challenges. But she persevered and went
on to have a successful career, first as the medical school’s first female clerkship director, and later, as the leader of the department’s
psychosocial oncology research and education program, among many other accomplishments. In addition to sharing their own stories,
the featured physicians also offer advice to young women pursuing careers in medicine. Among them, Ruth A. Lawrence (MD ’49, Res
’58), professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology, offers the following piece of wisdom: “If you’re ambitious, be ready to jump
through hoops. And don’t let them see you sweat.”
Women of Rochester Pediatrics is available online from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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