What It Means to Lead: Motherhood, Medicine, and Redefining the Possible

Being a woman in medicine is powerful.

Being a mother in medicine is redefining leadership through transformation, compassion, and resilience.

On September 11, 2025, at the Society of Hospital Medicine Hampton Roads Care Collective, I brought someone very special with me: my four-year-old daughter. The last time she attended this event, she was just three weeks old and waited in the Jeep with my husband. Since her birth, I’ve brought my daughter to four SHM National Converge conferences, sharing with her not only my work but the community and spirit that shapes who we are as hospitalists nationwide.

At the Care Collective 2025, she walked the room with me, confidently met exhibitors, and even handled the GE POCUS machine (with supervision!). She moved through the evening like she owned it—because, in many ways, she did. Witnessing her curiosity, confidence, and connection was inspirational.

Throughout the night, I felt the full support of my husband, who cared for our daughter with ease and grace, my fellow board members, and colleagues. But I also felt something deeper: the quiet confidence that I didn’t need to hide this part of myself. I didn’t need to apologize for being a mother, or for being fully present as a physician, as the SHM Hampton Roads Chapter president, and a parent. I am all of these. And I’ve never believed I should have to choose.

Because this, too, is what leadership looks like.

Through transformative courage and true authenticity, we continue to shape and model what it means to be women in medicine—without apologies.

During the event, through the eyes of a four-year-old, our honorary chapter president—Kira Lennox Seavey—reminded us all to be kind and compassionate, and to listen to others. That message was felt deeply. Long after the night ended, I reflected on what it meant to share that space with her and my husband: to model, in real time, what it means to lead with courage, integrity, compassion, and purpose—in medicine, and in life.

September is Women in Medicine Month. It’s a time to celebrate the progress we’ve made, but also to name the barriers that still exist for physician-mothers, parents, and caregivers in healthcare:

• The invisible load we carry at home and at work
• Limited institutional support for 
  working parents
• The ongoing absence of nationally mandated paid parental leave
• Persistent cultural expectations that force women (and primary caregivers) to choose between caregiving and ambition. But we can—and do—achieve both. With excellence.

We rise, even in systems never designed for us. We evolve. We reclaim the narrative. We lead with unmatched strength and vision. Our children don’t limit us—they inspire the very best of who we are as women, leaders, and physicians.

To every woman in medicine, know this: You are not alone. You are seen, heard, and celebrated as trailblazers, changemakers, and cultural disruptors—redefining and normalizing what it means to be a woman in medicine. We are no longer asking for space—we are claiming it as our rightful place, shaping its future with purpose, strength, and shared destiny.

Together, we are reimagining the future of healthcare with intention and bold conviction- advancing equity, elevating humanity, and empowering generations to come.

Dr. Williams is a hospitalist and assistant professor of medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. She serves as president of the Hampton Roads Chapter of SHM and is a national spokesperson on professional well-being, workplace violence, burnout, and moral injury. A committed advocate for historically marginalized voices—particularly women in medicine—Dr. Williams works to advance a more inclusive and compassionate healthcare system for all who give and receive care.