New TSF Scholarship Helps Women Surgeons Form Lifelong Career Connections

New TSF Scholarship Helps Women Surgeons Form Lifelong Career Connections

“I want to stop hearing stories of women giving up,” says Betsy Colwell, MD. “I’m hopeful that we can build a network to support women through their years of training and throughout their careers, especially early career, as those years can be so vital to one’s success and longevity in the field.”

Dr. Colwell, a cardiothoracic surgeon at University of Michigan Health–West, and her husband, Ryan Colwell, MD, director of customer finance at robotic-assisted surgery company Intuitive, recognized that mentorship and support are powerful forces for keeping determined surgeons on their chosen path. They founded the Betsy and Ryan Colwell Mentorship Scholarships for Women in Thoracic Surgery to help match early-career surgeons with senior surgeon mentors at the Women in Thoracic Surgery Annual Conference and beyond.

While women now comprise well over half of the medical student body across the United States, female graduates remain the minority in cardiothoracic surgical residency programs, and only 6% to 8%of practicing cardiothoracic surgeons are women, according to a 2020 report in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

“I was at an institution where I had no female partners, ”Dr. Betsy Colwell explained. “After graduating and starting my first job, I didn’t have a great experience being a woman, unfortunately, in the field. I had two options—to stay silent, leave, and let it happen to me and likely the next person as well, or to stand up for myself and hopefully illicit some change for those coming behind me. With the support of my mentors and husband along the way, I decided to stand up.”

In addition to tougher odds for professional advancement within their institutions, women face a unique set of challenges with balancing household responsibilities, finances, family planning, and caregiving, all while navigating the conscious and unconscious biases they face in the workplace, the Colwell's explained. They say that stories of their colleagues abandoning or altering their career trajectories are all too common.

Dr. Ryan Colwell recalls his wife’s experience as a woman during her training and early career: “You’d think, it’s 2015, it’s 2020, it’s 2025,and it doesn’t feel like this is where we should be at for women,” he said. “Being the first to have a baby (or multiple babies in Dr. Colwell’s case) in your residency program, being the only female cardiothoracic surgeon attending in a large integrated delivery network. But those things still happen very frequently. Having a place to meet other people who have had that experience isa great way for them to support each other.”

Connection Starts at a Meeting, Lasts a Career

The network offered by Women in Thoracic Surgery events—including at the STS Annual Meeting—helps surgeons share their experiences, offer and receive guidance, and make connections that can carry throughout a professional lifetime.

Though the pool of female leadership is relatively small among cardiothoracic surgeons, younger surgeons may find it daunting to approach a senior leader for advice, Dr. Betsy Colwell said. But a mentor can find an opening, make an introduction, and facilitate the conversation.

“It starts maybe at a meeting. But when you’re in practice, and you have no female mentors at your institution, and you want to call someone and just ask, ‘Can you help me think through this?’ Or ‘Is this a normal experience?’ . . . you’ve already built that connection, and you can make that call. I was fortunate to have that from a scholarship in the past.”

The Betsy and Ryan Colwell Mentorship Scholarship is open to women cardiothoracic surgeons from the United States, Mexico, and Canada who are within 5 years of their first faculty appointment, or women trainees in a cardiothoracic surgery residency or fellowship. Applicants are encouraged to share the hurdles they’ve faced during their early career development.

The scholarships cover the cost of Women in Thoracic Surgery Annual Conference registration, up to three nights’ lodging in a host hotel, and a stipend to cover costs associated with traveling to the conference.

“Going to conferences isn’t a cheap thing to do, especially early on when you’re still in debt,” Dr. Betsy Colwell said. “A couple thousand dollars is a lot for many early-career surgeons. If we can get people to the conference without them worrying about paying for it, it’s a great opportunity. I had that opportunity myself as a trainee through different scholarships, and it allowed me to meet people I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

During the conference, scholars will be paired with a more senior surgeon mentor, who can help the scholar navigate the event and start ongoing conversations. The Colwell's anticipate that mentors and mentees will form lasting relationships that will support them through challenges throughout their training and practice.

Early-Career Surgeons Encouraged to Apply Soon

Scholarship applications open June 20, 2025, and submissions are due July 20, 2025. Applicants can start preparing now by updating CVs, seeking out a letter of support, and workshopping a short essay about their personal and career goals.

“I’m excited to hear through Betsy what the experience is like for the folks who get to attend,” Dr. Ryan Colwell said. “And I’m interested to hear, as they lean into their careers, how the experiences for women in this field are different or changing, hopefully for the better, overtime.”