Christine Castater is a fourth-year student who is a core member of the WISIG. She’s something of a nontraditional student, having started medical school at age 35. She says she had several preconceived ideas about surgery and surgeons, so she hadn’t considered the field. It wasn’t until she did her surgical rotation in her third year that she realized surgery was right for her.
“I’m an artist. I like working with my hands, and I like to see tangible results from the things I do,” Castater says. “I felt that surgery was a better fit for me because I’d be able to do things to actually fix people instead of just managing patients’ diseases over time.”
Once she decided on surgery, she sought out Dr. Barry for advice and became active with the WISIG, so she could help younger students.
“Looking back, I think if I’d had exposure to real information about surgery or if I’d had women mentors in surgery, it might have been on my radar screen sooner than my third year,” Castater says.