In 2017, Dr. Suzanne Koven published an essay describing the challenges faced by women doctors, including her own personal struggle with "imposter syndrome" -- a long-held, secret belief that she was not smart enough or good enough to be a "real" doctor. Accessed nearly 300,000 times by readers around the world, Koven's "Letter to a Young Female Physician" has evolved into a work that reflects on her career in medicine, in which women still encounter sexism, pay inequity, and harassment. Koven tells stories about her pregnancy during a grueling residency in the AIDS era; the illnesses of her son and parents during which her roles as a doctor, mother, and daughter converged; and the twilight of her career during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Letter to a young female physician -- Risk factors -- Prerequisites -- Admissions -- Clinical skills -- Mnemonics -- We have a body -- Things shameful to be spoken of -- Lineage -- The last three pounds -- Mom at bedside, appears calm -- Curbsiding -- An inherited condition -- The disease of the little paper -- The noncompliant patient -- The hateful patient -- The doctor's new dilemma -- Off the charts -- Head and shoulder -- Sequelae -- Science and kindness -- Bury me in something warm -- Extension -- Mixed emotions -- They call us and we go -- Epilogue: Women in STEM.