‘She Looks Like a Cardiologist’: New Program Seeks to Inspire High School Girls
By: Courtney Caprara
For female high school students interested in health care,
pursuing a career in medicine can be daunting. With so many fields to choose
from and decisions to make as they prepare to continue their education, many young
women are uncertain of how to achieve their career goals.
To help these students, Dr. Katie Berlacher, a cardiologist
and director of UPMC’s cardiology fellowship program, teamed up with Diana
Rodgers of Fit Education Consulting
to develop the inaugural ‘She Looks Like a
Cardiologist’ event, which brought together talented girls from
Pittsburgh-area high schools and female cardiology residents, fellows and
physicians from UPMC. They spent a morning engaged in education, conversation
and mentorship.
“Despite the strides women have made in medical school
graduation rates over the past two decades, we remain significantly
underrepresented in cardiology specifically,” said Berlacher. “As a woman in this
field, I hope to connect as many future female cardiologists and health care
leaders as possible with inspiring women who can use their personal experiences
to guide these students in a meaningful way.”
In addition to the morning’s discussions, which focused on
cardiology in the community and how to approach medical school applications,
among other topics, each student attending the workshop was paired with a
resident or fellow to serve as her mentor as she finishes high school and continues
to higher education.
“We are immensely proud that more than one-third of our
cardiology fellows at UPMC are female, which is higher than the national
average of 20 percent,” said Berlacher. “As women, we must work together to
support the next generation of females in our field. As ‘She Looks Like a Cardiologist’ continues
to grow, we hope to motivate more girls to pursue cardiology in the years to
come.”
