“We were exposed to [technology] since we were 5 or 6 – it’s all we know,” she said of herself and her fellow residents. “It’s not a disadvantage. It’s about efficiency.”
“We have to get things done as quickly as possible and technology helps us with that,” said Dr. Scales, the daughter of a teacher and blue collar worker, who spent most of her life “surrounded by the underprivileged.”
She always desired to help lift that population up, and while she didn’t have a draft board directing her toward public service, she had her own calling of sorts. As a premed major in college, she worked with a nonprofit organization, and later she worked with Hurricane Katrina survivors.
“I liked that aspect of medicine. I wanted to be able to identify with people on an individual level,” she said.
Technology, work-hour restrictions, gender distribution – they’re just part of the journey.
“I’m glad I chose ob.gyn.,” she said. “Sometimes you go through ... reflection ... Am I ready? My answer is yes. I’m excited about the next step, I’m comfortable in the skill I learned in my residency program, I’m excited about the work I do every day, and I’m very excited about the next chapters.”