‘Imposter syndrome’ prevalent among women in medicine, but can be overcome

WASHINGTON – Many women in medicine, despite their high performance and success, have a pervasive feeling that they are professionally successful because of hard work and chance, not because they are intelligent. Further, they tend to externalize all their successes instead of internalize them, said the chief of gastroenterology and hepatology at the Henry Ford Hospital, here at Digestive Disease Week 2018.

“This is also known as the imposter phenomenon or the fraud syndrome. It is a concept that describes very high achieving individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud,” Kimberly Brown, MD, said, noting the phenomenon was first described in women in the 1970s. Brown noted she first recalled this feeling as a young child and that it has continued throughout her career.

“No one in this room got here by accident. We are all here because we are bright. We are intelligent. We worked hard. We have talents but, yet everyone sitting here in the audience is thinking ‘at some point they are going to figure out I’m not worthy’,” she said.

Also, some women have figured out that “what the person wants to hear from you is what is going to feed their soul ... as opposed to your ideas or intuition. Because, God forbid, you tell them what you think because at the end of the day if they reject that then they rejected you,” Brown said.

“If you maintain the notion that you are not bright, then you can probably avoid social rejection.”

There are consequences to impostor syndrome, Brown said.

Burnout; sabotage of your own personal development, career or relationship; and depression are consequences, she said. Women in medicine with imposter syndrome also tend not to career plan or apply for leadership positions.

“You are not seeking out these roles because you don’t believe you are worthy,” she said. “Men will take a job and put their name in a hat if they meet 60% of the qualifications listed on that job application. Women won’t do it unless they meet 100%.”

In offering advice to thwart imposter syndrome, Brown said “name it. It is very important that you recognize that this is happening to you.”

“Second is to be mindful. Mindfulness is apparently the fix for everything,” she said.

Third, “write it down ... Write a personal mission statement,” she said. “It is critically important that you write down what you are good at.”

She also advised that women in medicine should create a feedback loop ... “these are called friends.”

“Speak up about fear and doubt,” Brown said. “Everyone in this room needs help.”

Finally, “learn to step out of your comfort zone. This syndrome keeps you where you are. This syndrome doesn’t allow you to step outside of yourself and take on new risk, take on new leadership positions, take on new projects that you might be excellent at, or go and ask for a raise.”– by Joan-Marie Stiglich, ELS

Reference:

Brown K. Imposter phenomenon. Gastroenterology Women’s Coalition Symposium. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week 2018; June 2-5, 2018; Washington, DC.

Disclosure: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.