Women of Stanford Neurosurgery: Ciara Harraher “The road is a little bumpier for women in neurosurgery”

Stanford's Department of Neurosurgery faculty is nearly 25% female, an unprecendented level compared to other Neurosurgery programs around the country, and the world. But there is still much room to improve parity, and to make the path to success in this field less burdonsome and stigmatized for women. In this series, women across the Department share their experiences as females in the fields of science and medicine. From what got them hooked on science as children, or motivated them to become doctors, to their determination to overcome the bumps they faced on the road to becoming neurosurgeons, we suspect their stories will resonate with many women, regardless of their chosen profession. We hope that by sharing their stories, we may inspire more young girls to pursue careers in science, and eliminate some of the myths associated with women pursuing one of the most complex and demanding professions in medicine. 

When Were You First Interested In Science?

Even as a young student I was always drawn to biology and studying behavior. The neurosciences was just burgeoning as a science field at that point and so I just tended to be attracted to projects in that area, even as young as middle school. When I went to college I focused on neurosciences and did a bit of benchwork research. But I saw that dealing with people and dealing with patients was a better fit for my personality, and so at that point I decided to pursue medicine.

Was There Anyone In Your Life Who Encouraged You To Pursue Science?

As a child I was encouraged to pursue science. I didn’t have any family members as role models in the field, but I think it was my eighth grade biology teacher who sent me to a “girls in science” camp at a local university. For a week, I went to this university and did things that had to do with science and it was for girls in science, and I really liked it. I would say I was supported in terms of becoming a scientist and a doctor, absolutely.

Was There Anyone Who Discouraged You From Pursuing Science?

I was definitely encouraged to do science and to become a doctor, but I was not encouraged to become a neurosurgeon. I was definitely discouraged in terms of becoming a neurosurgeon – by other neurosurgeons and by physicians that I worked with in medical school. I believe that it came from a good place, in that they were concerned that the lifestyle would be punishing, and that it would mean sacrifices to me in terms of other things I might like to have, like a family. I think that as a woman, part of it was the child bearing, and the time off during a surgical training program, even the small amount of time off required to have a baby. Things have changed since then, when I was in my residency program there was no chance of being pregnant, that was never going to be allowed, that was never going to be tolerated, nor did I ever even think I could have done it because the hours we were working were so crazy. But they’ve tried to make it a bit less draconian, and work hour restrictions and programs have changed, and it’s now routine for residents in the Stanford program to have babies. That means not deferring having children as long as I had to defer it, which was until I was finished with the program. So, I think that the reasons people discouraged me were valid, the road is a little bit bumpier for women in neurosurgery, but I think that a lot of it can be overcome by changing the culture.

What Advantages Do Women Bring To The Field?

I do think in terms of medicine as a science, that as a woman there’s definitely a component of nurturing and forming relationships that I think can really positively affect patient outcomes. I guess it’s not a science per say, but in terms of taking care of patients, not to generalize, but I think that sometimes for my male colleagues, relationships with their patients may not be as much of a priority, and so I think that is something that women bring to medicine that is unique.

Why Is Diversity Important In Science And Medicine?

I think that diversity is a big thing. It’s only going to hurt the field, the fact that it’s not diverse. Diversity is going to improve neurosurgery, and having more women and more people of different backgrounds is going to make it a better specialty, it’s going to bring innovation and change. I think forward thinkers get that, someone like Dr. Steinberg gets that, but there are a lot of people that still just want things to stay as they are. I think that our big organizations need to try to represent neurosurgery better. I think that will allow these organizations and allow these specialties to evolve and change a little bit. Neurosurgery is probably not going to be, any time soon, a specialty where it’s going to be fifty-fifty men and women. It is a very demanding specialty in terms of time commitment, and it is physically demanding. And it’s not that women can’t do it, but a lot of women don’t want to do it because the facts of the matter are that most women end up doing the bulk of the child care and the housework, even if they are working. The women that I know that have made it work in neurosurgery have like me, more unique situations; my husband stayed home. It’s changing, my friends here, out of a group of say 10 women, three of us are the breadwinners and the husbands stay home. I don’t think that neurosurgery will ever be a fifty-fifty thing, and that’s okay. But I do think that we then miss out on getting the best and brightest medical students and residents, because of the way the specialty is, it’s not a specialty that’s very conducive to clocking in and out.

What Can We Tell Young Girls To Encourage Them To Pursue Careers In Science?

One thing I noticed throughout my training with women, is that we were all often second-guessing ourselves – 'are we good enough, are we smart enough, do we know enough, have we prepared enough, do I practice this surgery enough to do it on my own, maybe not, maybe I should have somebody with me?' - I just don’t feel that our male colleagues, just from a societal point of view of how they are trained, dealt themselves in that same kind of way; to question their right to do it. I think that process of self-doubt actually isn’t all bad, it can make you a better doctor and a better surgeon because you are always questioning – do I know enough, am I good enough – versus assuming you are. And so, I think that you kind of have to be aware of that, and have insight into that, and realize that those forces are at work in society. As much as we try to protect our little girls and raise them to think that they can do whatever they want to do there’s a lot of societal pressures that are out of our control that change how they view women, you know, in terms of media, politics, and we can’t completely control what they feel and hear. That’s the reason we must continue to tell them to not be discouraged by people that say “you can’t” or “you shouldn’t” or that it will mean giving up other things. There’s always a way to make it work for you, there’s always a way to figure out how you can make it work for you, and I think that a lot of people in neurosurgery didn’t really do that with me. No matter what anyone says to you, you can be just as good at science, you might learn things differently, or at a different pace, but you can get there.