Who are you and where do you work?

 I am Amanda Howe, working in the University of East Anglia which is in Norwich, a medieval city with a new medical school in the East of England (quite close to Amsterdam!) I am also the current Chair of the Wonca Working Party for Women in Family Medicine. All my work is about family medicine, but that includes its politics, research, teaching and development as well as clinical work. I do still see patients in a general practice near the university – a mixed population of working and middle class, with an increasing number of recent immigrants to the country.

What do you like about the work you do?

 I moved to Norwich in 2001, in order to help set up the new medical school. Working in academic family medicine means I get a really ‘big picture’ of what good primary care offers to patients and populations, and I can influence the next generation of doctors to be even better than the ones before. I enjoy teaching and interacting with learners in many of the same ways as I enjoy treating patients – they are all different, with a wide variety of needs, strengths and expectations. It has also meant I have many more international and national contacts than in my role as a clinician, and can appreciate the things that people all around the world do to help family medicine be a really great profession.

What are your main challenges?

Personally - too much work, too many opportunities, not enough energy or people to deliver on all the possibilities. I loathe cynicism and people who are negative all the time, which is exhausting and undermining. I think too many women work too hard out of duty, while some men get away with being rebellious and anarchic, resulting in their being given less work to do because they are unreliable. I also find it hard to imagine effective solutions to the really big problems of war, terrorism and poverty.

How does being a woman family physician affect your work and homelife?

My family have always had to contend with my job, which defines my life and self-identity. I was lucky to grow up in the start of the feminist era when a number of women doctors were role models for me in terms of making demands about shared childcare, rights at work, and also gained access to a really good state education in spite of being a girl. I have spent quite long period ‘split siting’ i.e. meeting up with my partner only at the weekend, in order that we can both pursue professional careers. I think about work all the time – for example, I am sitting now in a holiday cottage with friends around me reading the paper or a book, while I am typing this little letter – not that communicating with colleagues round the world is really work, but before this I did some assessment and read a couple of articles!

What interests you about the WONCA Working Party for Women in Family Medicine?

I defined myself as a feminist early in my life (something to do with being one woman to eight men at med school, being told to leave a ward round when I turned up in a (new very smart) trouser suit, endless sexist jokes in theatre, being asked about my family planning at interviews ….). I have always tried to mentor women doctors to get the best out of their careers and lives, and to encourage them to develop a strong confidence in their abilities to contribute to every aspect of the discipline. The WWPWFM has renewed my awareness of the many ways in which women still are disadvantaged in medicine, and to the global vulnerabilities of women in most societies. I think the interesting thing for me has been to see how other women in the WWP have exploited political and organisational means of raising these issues within Wonca; and the huge sense of ‘belonging’ which has encouraged members of the listserve to engage and stay active, even when we are so far apart from each other. I also find it really interesting to read about other people’s lives. So hope this is interesting for you, and please write back!