Name: Emma Dishner, MD, MPH
Specialty: Infectious Diseases
City: Dallas
County Medical Society: Dallas CMS
Social Media Handle: Twitter:@DishnerEl
Why do you think your section is an important part of TMA?
The YPS is the future of TMA, we have finally graduated from training and chosen to practice in Texas. We are arguably the most difficult section to engage as we tend to be working and have young families. I think the struggles of my section reflect the reasoning for a lot of burn out. I hope that engaging the YPS physicians can be a step to engage in the future of TMA.
What benefits have you derived from your membership in the section?
In the YPS there is a camaraderie of feeling the pressures of proving oneself at work, feeling the pressures of home life, and wanting also to make a difference for our profession. I find this camaraderie very comforting.
Is there a cause, activity, or organization you're involved in that you would like to mention?
I am very active in my local Dallas County Medical Society. The mentorship and advice I have received from the leadership and other physicians in the county medical society has been instrumental in my desire to stay and practice in Dallas.
What do you like most about your specialty?
I love Infectious Diseases, which has long been overlooked by trainees because the choice to do ID actually equates to more training in order to take a pay cut. However, ID has one of the highest rates of satisfaction and all of us choose ID because we love it. In ID we tend to have interactions with almost all other specialists, and we are considered by some to be the great diagnosticians of medicine. Every day, I am challenged and I get to learn something new. Perhaps I'm naive, but because of this I foresee myself seeking challenges for the rest of my career and never see myself retiring.
What is the best professional advice you've ever received?
My mother, a psychiatrist, once told me this about the work place and becoming a doctor: "It doesn't matter if you're right if nobody likes you." To me this is always a reminder to treat my peers and staff as I would like to be treated and to try to remain humble. Likewise, it is a reminder that even science is political. Seeking the correct answer in truth, should be paired with appealing to others and working within a man-made structure.