Women in Leadership: ‘You Can Do It All… and You Get to Choose’
Current, Former New Physician Board Members Share a Conversation
Oct. 2, 2024, News Staff (Phoenix) — During the 2023 National Conference of Constituency Leaders, Cynthia Chen-Joea, D.O., M.P.H., C.P.H., FAAFP, was elected a member constituency alternate delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates. When NCCL rolled around a year later, she was considering a run for new physician member of the AAFP Board of Directors.
The difference the second time around was that Chen-Joea, a first-time mom, had an 8-month-old baby girl when NCCL met April 18-20 in Kansas City, Mo. Before deciding whether to pursue the Board position, she had a lengthy conversation with Marie-Elizabeth Ramas, M.D., FAAFP, a former new physician Board member who gave birth to her third child during her term.
Ramas, now regional medical director for Aledade Inc., and past president of the New Hampshire AFP; and Chen-Joea, adjunct clinical faculty for Emanate Health Family Medicine Residency and the University of Southern California, secretary treasurer of medical staff at Emanate Health, co-chair of the California AFP’s Member Engagement Committee, met again during the 2024 AAFP Congress of Delegates Sept. 23-25, where Chen-Joea’s position on the AAFP Board was affirmed by the COD. They discussed women in leadership and talked about finding balance in their roles as physicians, wives, mothers and leaders.
AAFP News is sharing the recent conversation, with their permission, for the benefit of other family physicians who might be pondering similar questions about pursuing leadership. (Not coincidentally, the deadline for AAFP commission applications is Oct. 15.)
Ramas: What was going through your mind when you decided to run for the Board?
Recently-affirmed new physician member of the AAFP Board of Directors Cynthia Chen-Joea, D.O., M.P.H., C.P.H., FAAFP, and Marie-Elizabeth Ramas, M.D., FAAFP, who previously served in that role, pause for a photo at the 2024 Congress of Delegates in Phoenix.
Chen-Joea: I was on a call with our state chapter, CAFP, and we were asked if anyone was interested in running for these positions. I knew I wanted to run. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity, but I also didn’t know if I could take on one more thing. I just had a baby, and was overwhelmed with my roles of being a new mom and transitioning back to work after maternity leave. I was asking myself and others, “What is it like? Can I do this? Is it possible?” I had a lot of fears and doubts of being able to juggle all of my responsibilities and doing it well. I talked with a lot of people, including mentors from my state chapter. Somehow Board members heard that I was considering the position but was hesitant due to me being a new mom. So many people reached out, reassured me and encouraged me to go for it. Many directed me to “talk to Marie about her experience because she was a new mom also during her time on the Board.”
Ramas: It comes down to, “Am I enough to meet the demands and expectations? Do I have what it takes, or will I disappoint the people who believed in me and encouraged me to run for the role?”
Chen-Joea: The answer so many people gave me was, “You’re asking the right questions. If you’re asking that then, yes, you are being thoughtful and considerate. You don’t need to have all the answers, but if you’re willing to ask questions and listen, then that means you’re here for the right reasons.”
Even when I feel like I’m not meeting my standards of performance or expectations, I know that’s not how others view me. I’m still making a positive impact. Our perceptions internally aren’t a reflection of reality.
Chen-Joea: Women are really hard on ourselves. We have high expectations of ourselves, more so than men, I think. As a Black woman leader, how did you go about meeting your own expectations?
Ramas: I learned in my time on the Board that great women leaders promote one another. I recognize that I can’t do it all alone. On the Board, I witnessed women leaders in our organization, like (former speaker) Javette Orgain (M.D., M.P.H., FAAFP) and (past president) Wanda Filer (M.D., M.B.A., FAAFP) lean into one another and promote one another.
Student Board member Mikala Cessac (second from left), resident Board member Aerial Petty, D.O., (center) and new physician Board member Cynthia Chen-Joea, D.O., M.P.H., C.P.H., FAAFP, (far right) are escorted to the dais at the 2024 Congress of Delegates by Sergeants-at-arms Adebowale Prest, M.D., FAAFP, (far left) and Renee Crichlow, M.D., FAAFP.
The Physician Health and Well-being Conference was an idea I birthed as a new physician in an AAFP Board meeting. It was a blue-sky idea. We needed an event that centered on relaxing and connecting in the setting of a CME conference. We often can’t go to these events unless they have CME credit.
Now there are more women than ever on the AAFP Board. What do you hope to get out of this experience? What do you want to achieve?
Chen-Joea: I want to gain more skills so I can be a better leader. I want to be able to make the world a better place for our patients. During the last year, my focus has been on how we can make the work environment better for physicians. More physicians are leaving medicine earlier in their careers than ever before. We can’t serve patients if our profession isn’t sustainable, so how do we make it sustainable? I’ll have a better understanding of the challenges and potential solutions by being in the room where things happen.
Women account for a majority of U.S. medical students and residents, but we’re not there yet in medical leadership. As women, how do we define our paths and attain these roles?
Ramas: There’s an art to “self-promoting.” Women are conditioned to be humble and not toot our own horns, but there’s a necessity to take pride in our accomplishments and the value we offer. The way I was able to make that shift is by recognizing that everyone has gifts to share with the world. It would be wrong to hide the gifts we have. It’s not selfish; it’s a gift to share your abilities. I want to inspire others to do same.
The AAFP helped me by inviting me to be in the first cohort of the Women’s Wellness Through Equity and Leadership Project. We need to create a community of women leaders so we can support and nurture others in our professional and personal endeavors.
Who do you see as your community who will support you while you pursue your leadership goals?
Chen-Joea: I’ve been going to NCCL for at least three years. You get really close with your member constituency alternate delegates and delegates. You create lifelong bonds and friendships with some amazing people from across the country. I reach out to my NCCL friends for help outside of conferences, and they do the same with me.
Ramas: I’ve never been part of a sorority, but my cohort of leaders that I started within NCCL is my group. Outside of NCCL, we still communicate, cross-promote, cross-nominate. It became much more than a network, almost a pack. We support and nurture each other.
When you first came to me, you felt like, “I’m dreadfully alone.” Now you have a community the task doesn’t seem so big, right?
Chen-Joea: If I need help there are definitely people in NCCL I can turn to. I like that word — pack. It’s become a cohort of people I can rely on personally and professionally. It’s not just about writing resolutions. It’s a community and a resource. I was vulnerable, postpartum and just felt like I needed help. It was a feeling of inadequacy and imposter syndrome. I was moved to tears because women from AAFP, who I didn’t know, went out of their way to reach out to me. Everyone rallied around me and encouraged me to go for this position. Some were people I had never even talked to, but they heard I was a new mom who was second-guessing herself. My husband, colleagues and friends have been so supportive to help me, so I can partake in advocacy and do what I love.
Some people serve on the AAFP Board for three years or even six. The new physician, resident and student members of the Board serve one-year terms. How do we make a difference in one year?
Ramas: Have an agenda. Think about what you want to accomplish and what’s important to you. Be strategic and collaborate.
Chen-Joea: People have told me that, “You aren’t ‘just’ the new physician member. You are a Board member. Your voice is valuable, and people want to hear what you have to say.” One voice can make a difference.
How did you plan your leadership path and balance it with family and personal goals?
Ramas: It’s important to prioritize your must-haves versus your wants. That goes for all aspects of who I am. Once you have your priorities straight, it’s easier to say no to things that don’t align with those priorities. As a woman leader, it’s difficult to say no. I’m a recovering people pleaser. You have to practice saying no and setting boundaries.
Chen-Joea: I remember being overwhelmed by lack of sleep and being inundated with work and still wanting to participate in this opportunity as new physician director. I was just worried about breastfeeding my kid! I didn’t think I could handle all of it. All of those are just limiting thoughts — they are reasons and excuses you give yourself to not to pursue an opportunity because you don’t want to disappoint yourself and others. At the end of the day, those limiting thoughts shouldn’t be reasons not to go after an amazing opportunity if it aligns with your goals and values. If you have an opinion, then you have a voice and you can make a difference. The limiting thoughts end up just being small obstacles and aren’t as big as you think. You’ll figure out a way to make it work.
Ramas: The biggest thing I’ve learned is that you can do it all, but it doesn’t have to be all at once, and you get to choose. There are always opportunities. You can have doubts and fears — that’s not a weakness — and still pursue your goals.