As a physician who went through medical school and residency training in the 1990’s, I’m always on the lookout for books by fellow female physicians that shed the tough outer skin we were taught to wear and dig beneath into the painful underbelly of what it took to get us where we are.

So I was eager to read Surgeon on the Edge (Hippocratic Press, 2026), a new medical memoir by physician Frances Mei Hardin, who recently co-founded the Hippocratic Collective to highlight the voices and experiences of physicians. I was interested to see how Hardin’s experience lined up with mine and my peers: As is the case with other female physicians, I too experienced sexism and harassment throughout training and practice, but I also had inspiring attending physicians and patient experiences that remain precious moments during that time.