**How Motherhood Transformed My Identity as a Scientist and Educator**

In a thoughtful conversation on The Podcast by KevinMD, physician coach and medical school educator Kathleen Muldoon explores how motherhood has influenced her professional identity. In her article, “How motherhood transformed my identity as a scientist and educator,” Muldoon expresses the challenges and changes she encountered while balancing her dual roles.

Muldoon’s experience as a “mother scholar” evolved within the academic and medical spheres often marked by a preference for detachment and productivity measures. Her journey as a parent to a child with disabilities, born with congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV), compelled her to go beyond the typical confines of clinical expertise and adopt a holistic approach to medicine—one that includes the lived experiences of patients and their families. This shift in perspective helped her to value the importance of presence over simple performance and reinforced the crucial lesson of accepting vulnerability and uncertainty in her career.

She argues that caregiving ought to be viewed not as a barrier but as a valuable perspective that can enrich professional pursuits. Her narrative underscores a significant appeal for the medical field to realign itself with inclusivity and compassion, urging practitioners to weave their personal experiences and genuine selves into their professional lives.

Muldoon’s reflections challenge the traditional separation of personal and professional identities, calling on the medical community to view caregiving and other personal narratives as sources of strength and wisdom that enhance the practice of medicine. By sharing her story, Muldoon champions a more empathetic and holistic approach to medical education and practice, closing the divide between scientific precision and compassionate human interaction.