50 years of pediatrics: What has changed for female pediatricians?
Dr. Eaton’s story
In the 1960s, when most young pediatricians were opening practices or joining small groups, Antoinette P. Eaton, MD, chose an different path. A passion for serving undeserved families led her to back to what is now Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where she had completed her residency. In the early 60s, Dr. Eaton served as assistant medical director at the hospital, and in 1965 she become director of the hospital’s birth defect center.
Back then, insurers operated much differently, Dr. Eaton recalled. Insurance companies would not pay for outpatient care, and so children with developmental or congenital disorders would have to be admitted to the hospital for treatment. “It was a complete reversal of what it is like now,” she said.
“We all saw each patient, and then we would get together and conference on the patient and decide on the best approach,” Dr. Eaton said in an interview. “I would definitely say it was unique. It certainly ingrained in me how valuable the team approach to medicine was then and is now. It’s become a very popular approach, and I’m happy to see that, but that was my approach way back in the mid-60s and mid-70s.”
Like female pediatricians of today, Dr. Eaton worked to juggle her career and her role as a mother to four children. She found balance by working part time when necessary and getting off early when her children were school-aged. “Being a mother and being a physician, especially in leadership, there’s always going to be pressure for allocating your time appropriately between all of those demands, but I can tell you I always made being a mother my top priority, and I don’t think I sacrificed my professional duties as a result,” she said. “I think it was possible to combine them, although it’s certainly challenging at times.”
Dr. Eaton went on to become director for maternal health at the Ohio Department of Health and later served as president for the AAP Ohio Chapter and as AAP president from 1990 to 1991.
Her most important achievement however, was being a strong voice for children, she said. “My biggest accomplishment, I hope, was standing up for children and speaking out for children and assuming leadership roles in organizations like AAP to underscore that important role as an advocate.”
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