How motherhood made me a better scientist

Physician coach and medical school professor Kathleen Muldoon discusses her article, "How motherhood reshaped my identity as a scientist and teacher." She explores what it means to be a "mother scholar" in academic and medical cultures that reward detachment and often view caregiving as a distraction. Drawing from her experience parenting a disabled child with congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV), Kathleen explains how she was forced to bridge the gap between siloed clinical expertise and her son's lived reality. This journey reshaped her identity, teaching her to see the whole person, to value presence over performance, and to embrace the vulnerability of saying "I don't know." She argues that caregiving is not a liability but a profound lens that enhances her work, and makes a powerful call for medicine to realign with humanity by allowing practitioners to bring their full, authentic selves to the work of healing.

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