Letter to a Young Female Physician

Notes from a Medical Life

By: Suzanne Koven

Narrated by: Suzanne Koven

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

In 2017, Dr. Suzanne Koven published an essay describing the challenges faced by female physicians, including her own personal struggle with "imposter syndrome" - a long-held secret belief that she was not smart enough or good enough to be a "real" doctor. Accessed by thousands of listeners around the world, Koven's Letter to a Young Female Physician has evolved into a deeply felt reflection on her career in medicine.

Koven tells candid and illuminating stories about her pregnancy during a grueling residency in the AIDS era; the illnesses of her child and aging parents during which her roles as a doctor, mother, and daughter converged, and sometimes collided; the sexism, pay inequity, and harassment that women in medicine encounter; and the twilight of her career during the COVID-19 pandemic. As she traces the arc of her life, Koven finds inspiration in literature and faces the near-universal challenges of burnout, body image, and balancing work with marriage and parenthood.

Letter to a Young Female Physician reveals a woman forging her authentic identity in a modern landscape that is as overwhelming and confusing as it is exhilarating in its possibilities. Koven offers an indelible account, by turns humorous and profound, that sheds light on our desire to find meaning, and on a way to be our own imperfect selves in the world.

©2021 Suzanne Koven (P)2021 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"[Koven] is rueful and delightful and keeps on building a careening and fascinating life...[Letter to a Young Female Physician] is a warm and wry epistle, the endless and near-perfect email you wish your mother, your mentor and your therapist would sit down and type out together." (Laura Kolbe, Wall Street Journal)

"[These] phenomenal essays...are full of acuity and generosity...[Koven's] writing is full of humor, candor, by turns (and often simultaneously) beautiful and heartbreaking shards of narrative, about her own life and the lives of her patients and colleagues. She's also got a killer sense of humor and a fantastic eye for detail." (Leslie Jamison, LitHub)

"Suzanne Koven's Letter to a Young Female Physician is so wise, beautifully written, tender, and full of heart that it should be required reading for every person - young, female, physician, or otherwise. This is a transporting memoir, and an instructive one." (Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance)

Captivating, inspirational

Would listen/read again. Was hard to put down, I can relate with many things she experienced during her career. I recommend this book to anyone, but mostly to all novice physicians out there

Must read for anyone in healthcare

As a PA student on clinical rotations, I have long commutes and exhausting days/nights. I listened to this audiobook on my drive to the hospital and it reminded me of why I’m working so hard every day. It inspired me reflect on the art of medicine and gave me confidence in myself and my abilities! To everyone in healthcare, this book is a wonderful reminder of our humanity as healthcare professionals and the gifts we have to share with our patients. Thank you Dr. Koven for sharing your work!

Fantastic!

Dr. Koven’s stories are awe inspiring and a pleasure to listen to in this beautifully crafted piece. I enjoyed learning about her life and professional identify formation. It has helped me reflect on my own journey and garner the courage to keep moving forward and to maintain a growth mindset.

Book about opinions - not medicine

I was hoping this book would discuss the author’s experience as a woman in medicine. Instead, the author just complained about being over weight and wanting to be a man. I didn’t feel empowered as a woman going into medicine after listening to this book.