My thanks to Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG)!

How have I benefited from RBG?  The opportunities that I have had in my 50-year life are because of RBG.  The benefits are innumerable and occur daily.

I chose with whom, when and how many children I had.

I am my spouse’s peer and equal partner, both at work and at home.

I can be pregnant and work.

I can be a mother and return to work.

I can have a credit card in my name only.

I can consent for my own medical procedures.

As a woman I am NOW paid 82 cents to the male dollar, compared to 60 cents to the male dollar before the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Supreme Court Case.

“Whatever you choose to do, leave tracks (and that means do not do just for yourself as this will not be fully satisfying).  You will want to leave the world a little better for your having lived.”   I have dedicated my work life to teach new physicians how to be physicians AND to care for my own patients.

“There is no satisfaction… equal from knowing that you have made another’s life, your community a little better for your effort.”  I have taught countless medical students and 400+ medical resident physicians in my career and put them out into the world to care for their communities. 

“Men and women have one principal role… that of being people.”  This notion of sex-equality was an organizing principle for RBG.  I cannot agree more.

Thank you, RBG.  Now, let’s get on with the act of living and exacting change.