The Physician Spotlight is an interview series highlighting prominent members of the Doximity network. Each interview sheds light on the unique challenges physicians face in medicine today and how Doximity’s tools and technology are helping doctors solve these issues. This week, we interviewed Virginia Mensah, fertility specialist and obstetrician/gynecologist in Providence, RI.
Q: How did you originally find out about Doximity, and why did you decide to sign up as a member?
A: I initially came across Doximity when I was a resident. I found out about it mostly through networking with other physicians. And ever since then, I’ve been an avid user pretty much every day.
Q: How is Doximity different from other platforms?
A: Doximity is different from other social networks in the sense that it’s really designed for physicians. For example, I like the fact that a lot of my newsfeed contains relevant information for my field in obstetrics and gynecology. It’s also a great way to just reconnect with my physician colleagues that I may have lost track of over the years of all of my training.
Q: Are there any features you use frequently?
A: I absolutely love your calling feature, Dialer. It’s probably my favorite feature of Doximity because it really allows me to be anywhere outside of the office and communicate with my patients.
Q: In your specialty, how important is communicating with your patients?
A: It’s everything in my field. As a fertility specialist, we’re often needing to communicate with patients multiple times throughout the day. Dialer is really one of those features where having the ability to be anywhere, communicate with my patients, and have my CallerID display my office number, is absolutely wonderful.
Q: Are there any other features you use regularly?
A: Yes, I also love using the straight-to-voicemail feature, which enables physicians to basically enter in their patient’s phone number and directly reach their voicemail and leave messages for things like normal lab results or other less pressing information. It’s very easy to use. In my field, we do a lot of follow-up throughout the day, so being able to share non-urgent clinical information with my patients is very helpful and makes me more efficient. My patients also love it because it allows them to listen to their messages at their own convenience.
Q: Why did you decide to pursue a career in medicine, specifically, obstetrics and gynecology?
A: My interest in medicine really has spawned from just years of being in love with science and biology. In college, I was unsure of what I wanted to do as far as medicine versus obtaining a PhD. But really, my love of interacting with people drove me to medicine. And for obstetrics and gynecology in particular, I really enjoy the kinds of conversations I’m able to have with patients. I’ve always felt like I am able to connect with them on a much deeper level as a woman. The other thing I love about my specialty is that you get to play many diverse roles. One minute, you can be in a clinic setting discussing contraceptives with one patient and the next minute, you’re off to the operating room to help a patient remove fibroids. My specialty definitely keeps me on my feet!
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a physician, and even specifically, as an OB/GYN?
A: Well, I would definitely say keeping up with the patient volume is a big challenge. In my field in particular, even though I am an obstetrician/gynecologist, I’m also now a subspecialist in fertility or infertility care. So, there’s always a lot that goes into that, including many ups and downs, navigating patients through their fertility journey. Oftentimes, my job requires me to be communicating with patients outside of clinic hours just to try to get everything done.