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urgery, Motherhood
Medicine And
Shabbat?

Female Jewish physicians discuss ways to balance
professional, domestic and religious life.

RUTH LITTMAN STAFF WRITER

Lynn Blavin juggles the roles of physician and mommy to Ari, 5,

and Joshua, 11 months.

he scene:
A table bedecked with
bagels, fruits and cheese-
cake. Fourteen Jewish women
drinking coffee. Whispers of ex-
citement: "Guess who got en-
gaged? Had a baby? Do you
believe she's getting married?"
Typical girl-talk.
The sound: Electronic beep-

Nig.

All 14 women instantly
reach for their pagers. "Is it
mine? It might be mine. No, it
mist be yours."
This is no ordinary coffee
Match. It is, instead, a snap-
shot of "Balancing Multiple
Roles," a brunch sponsored by
Machon L'Torah.
Earlier this month, 14
women gathered in a Birm-
ingham office building to dis-
cuss the challenges of being
Jewish women physicians.
Many of them wear a another
hat: They're also mothers.
Oh, yes, and they're wives
and daughters and volunteers.
Inspiration for the brunch
arose when pediatrician and
mother-of-two Janet Snider
was talking with her friend

Bayla Jacobovitz about the
hectic life of 'a double MD: med-
ical doctor and mommy dear-
est.
Mrs. Jacobovitz, who runs
the women's division of Ma-
chon L'Torah, suggested that
Dr. Snider help start a group
for Jewish women physicians
caught in a similar bind: too
many responsibilities, too lit-
tle time.
"It's important for people to
meet others who are in the
same boat," Dr. Snider said.
Machon L'Torah, based in
Southfield, coordinates local fo-
rums to enhance Jewish learn-
ing and culture. The
organization sent out brunch
invitations to female Jewish
doctors. It received responses
from not only Jewish physi-
cians, but also lawyers, ac-
countants and other career
women.
Dr. Snider, however, want-
ed to restrict the group to
physicians for a couple of rea-
sons. Jewish women doctors
are unique, she said, because
their profession is so incom-
patible with a personal life, es-
pecially during training, when
residents must spend days at
the hospital.
On top of that, many women
physicians face life-and-death
situations in the operating
room, then must return home
to plan dinner. It often is diffi-
cult to remind oneself that do-
mestic concerns, though
mundane, aren't trivial, she
said.
Dr. Snider, along with two
other "Double MDs," spoke at
the brunch: Lynn Blavin and
Debora Cala-Reinitz. All ad-

dressed ways to best juggle
multiple roles.
Dr. Blavin — assistant di-
rector of the family practice
residency program at Oakwood
Hospital and assistant profes-
sor at Wayne State University
— has two young children. She
emphasized the importance of
hiring household help and pri-
oritizing responsibilities.

"The pressure is
overwhelming.
I think that my
Jewish lifestyle is
critical to the
mental health of
my family."

Debora Cala-Reinitz

"How can you be the world's
greatest doctor, and how can
you also be the world's great-
est mom? I think, really, the
answer is that you can't. You
can't be the world's best," she
said. "But you can be very, very
good. Learn to accept the fact
that you can't be perfect."
Dr. Reinitz has five children,
and her husband is a surgeon.
"My life really can be very
difficult," she said. "The pres-
sure is overwhelming. I think
that my Jewish lifestyle is crit-
ical to the mental health of my
family."
The Reinitz family observe
Shabbat and keep kosher.
"I've never considered a job
that would have been insen-
sitive to my needs during Sab-

bath and the Jewish holidays,"
she said.
Saturdays at home with her
family or with friends also pro-
vide Dr. Reinitz with a feeling
of personal calm.
"Shabbat is beyond the
highs and lows of anything else
in our lives. My roles of physi-
cian and mother change, but
my role as a Jew stays con-
stant," she said.
The brunch also featured
Sara Eisemann, a social
worker with Jewish Family
Service, who spoke on the need
for women physicians to ac-
knowledge the conflicts in their
lives. Like Dr. Blavin, Ms.
Eisemann stressed the impor-
tance of coming to terms with
sacrifice.
"We can't do it all and say
that nothing went by the way-
side," she said.
Women who attended the
event shared personal and pro-
fessional stories after the
speeches. They talked candid-
ly about medical-school days,
when their career aspirations
frightened off many potential
dates.
, "It was so hard for guys to
handle a woman becoming a
doctor," Dr. Snider said.
She also described the ideal
spouse: "He's going to have to
have features that will make
him a good wife." Said Dr. Ar-
lene Levine, who also attend-
ed the brunch: "I wish that I
would've had this type of group
to talk to when I was going
through medical school."
For information about the
next meeting of Jewish Women
Physicians, call Machon
L'Torah at 967-0888. ❑