Bolstered by National Awards, Pediatric Neurosurgeon Aims to Remove Barriers for Female Surgeons and Leaders
The last 12 months have brought well-deserved recognition to Smruti Patel, MD, a pediatric neurosurgeon from Cincinnati Children’s.
In 2022, Patel received a Future Women Leaders in Neurosurgery scholarship from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Foundation. She was also named to the Association of Women Surgeons’ list of 40 trailblazing female surgeons under 40.
These honors validate Patel’s career achievements thus far and demonstrate her potential to become a leader in her field.
And, Patel says, they’re a reflection of what’s happening across the medical community. Because more national organizations are paying attention to the growing number of women surgeons, there have been increasing efforts to address diversity, equity and inclusion in academic surgery.
Supporting Leadership Development
The Future Women Leaders in Neurosurgery scholarship was established in 2021 with funds from an anonymous donor. These funds are now awarded annually to select female neurosurgeons who are early in their career and want to expand their leadership skills.
Patel used her stipend to attend an American College of Surgeons course called Surgeons as Leaders: From Operating Room to Boardroom.
This annual event provides surgeons with an understanding of leadership at all levels of their organization. It also introduces the importance of skills such as consensus-building, team development, conflict resolution and adapting to organizational change.
Patel says she gained invaluable insights during the three-day course, which she attended alongside surgeons from a broad range of disciplines.
“Not only was I the youngest surgeon there, but I was also one of the few women,” she says. “One of the highlights was engaging in meaningful conversations with the other participants. We discussed the obstacles surgeons can encounter in their pursuit of leadership opportunities, as well as the many rewards gained along the way.”
Recognizing Current and Future Impacts
When the Association of Women Surgeons celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022, it marked the occasion by selecting and honoring 40 outstanding female surgeons under the age of 40.
The surgeons named to this list, including Patel, were nominated by their peers and chosen in part for the impacts they’ve made—and will continue to make.
From the moment she started her neurosurgery residency at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed her pediatric neurosurgery fellowship training at Cincinnati Children’s in 2021, Patel was already getting noticed for her work.
In both 2018 and 2020, she received the Ellen and Stewart B. Dunsker Award for Clinical Research for her work related to pediatric hydrocephalus and fetal myelomeningocele repair. She was also a two-time recipient of the John M. Tew, Jr., MD, Award in Surgical Neuro-Oncology for her research on supratentorial gliomas and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) —a rare, fast-growing tumor.
Patel also continues to volunteer at a national level. She serves on several subcommittees of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons (AANS/CNS) Joint Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery. She also acts as a professional development coach for surgical residents across the country through the Association of Women Surgeons Coaching Project.
Inspiring and Leading Change
Patel says she’s been fortunate thus far in her career and plans to continue playing a role in achieving gender parity within neurosurgery. This not only begins with providing good mentorship, but also sponsorship.
“I’ve had multiple male and female role models and mentors from various specialties, both surgical and nonsurgical, adult and pediatric,” Patel says. “Just as they’ve influenced and supported me, I want to do the same for others. Being at an institution like Cincinnati Children’s has really allowed me to grow professionally and I plan to help tomorrow’s female surgeons succeed in developing their careers.”
