Female Doctor's Bikini Rescue Proves A Woman's Outfit Does Not Define Her Skills
Dr. Bikini to the rescue.
kovop58 / shutterstock A woman going viral as "Dr. Bikini" saved a man in the ocean off of the coast of Kalaheo, Hawaii when he was hit by a boat.
Dr. Candace Myhre is an emergency medicine physician whose recent rescue prompted her to expose sexism in medicine.
She is making a point with her Instagram posts that she and other female doctors can do anything in any type of clothing.
In an Instagram post, Dr. Myhre shared photos of the rescue that showed her taking care of the man's wounds while in her bikini.
"Dr. Bikini will save your life in the middle of the Ocean when you get hit by a boat," she wrote.
"I will take you out of the ocean on a surfboard turned into a backboard, tie off your exsanguinating wound with my rash guard, take you to my under-equipped urgent care, stabilize you in 1 hour with an IV, oxygen, morphine, fluids, Foley, and put your open femur fracture in Bucks traction, fly you by helicopter to a local hospital, order and interpret all the labs, X-rays, CT scans, suture/staple all your wounds, splint your clavicle/ humerus and scapula fractures, sedate you, put a chest tube in your 5 rib fractured hemopneumothorax and fly you by jet to a specialty hospital in another country....all in my you guessed it."
In the Instagram post documenting this most recent rescue, she exclaimed, "NEWSFLASH: FEMALE DOCTORS CAN WEAR WHATEVER THEY WANT."
Dr. Bikini makes a great point. She says, "Female doctors, nurses, NPs/PAs, all healthcare professionals - we can wear a bikini, a dress, or we can wear scrubs. This does not change how good we are at being a healthcare provider. We can wear WHATEVER we want on our free time, and still save your life."
This is a recent move to shed light on sexism in the medical field.
Recently, a study published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery controversially noted that there is a "prevalence of unprofessional social media content among young vascular surgeons" in the medical industry.
The study, notably conducted by all men and one woman, was looking to see how a surgeon's social media accounts affect their professional reputation and their rate of being chosen for operations by patients.
In this study, they used 480 graduating trainees from both Boston Medical Centre and Salem Health Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and screened their social media activity. They marked if there was any "Clearly unprofessional content, like unlawful behavior, bad-mouthing their colleagues, 'Potentially unprofessional content,' 'Holding and consuming alcohol,' 'Controversial topics,' and 'Inappropriate attire.'"
They deemed "Inappropriate attire" as being "Pictures in underwear, provocative Halloween costume and provocative posing in bikinis/swimwear."
In her Instagram post, Dr. Myhre explained that "Sexism in medicine is alive and well. But we won’t let that stop us. In this ridiculous article published in a well respected medical journal, the vascular surgery authors sought out to determine how many vascular surgeons had participated in what they state is 'inappropriate social media behavior,' which they defined as FEMALES IN BIKINIS — BUT GET THIS: NOT MEN IN BATHING SUITS."
She also noted that "The 'study' was written by 3 men who created fake social media accounts to spy on applicants."
Harriet Hall told Independent Magazine, "The study into the ‘professionalism’ of female doctors pictured in swimwear on their holidays is, sadly, not an anomaly. Employers just can’t seem to leave the matter of women’s clothing alone."
Telling women what is appropriate to wear is a way for men to control women in society and that should not be the case. Women should be seen as who they are, people, doctors, nurses, etc. Not as a sexual object for someone's objectification.
Dr. Myhre's post has spurred a movement in the medical field.
Thanks to Dr. Myhre's call to action, many men and women have shared photos of themselves in "unprofessional attire" to prove that their clothing is not a reflection of their professionalism or skills.
They are using the hashtag #medbikini to bring women together in the medical field to show solidarity against sexism in the workforce.
If you're a medical professional and want to participate, Dr. Myhre has asked that you post your photo with this caption, "Women in medicine: whether you’re a nurse, medical student, resident, an attending, post your favorite bikini pic/dress pic/Halloween pic/anything today and tag me, and #medbikini. We have to drown out the sexism in medicine and keep it moving. It’s 2020 people. Sexism is canceled."
Since then, the Journal has apologized and has said that they will take "Resolute steps to improve our review process and increase the diversity of our editorial boards."
Emily Francos is a writer who covers relationships, pop culture, and news topics.