I knew early on that my mom enjoyed and was deeply invested in her work, and I also knew that she still lived a full life outside of the hospital. —WayAnne Watson, MD
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December 2022
Q: What drew you to otolaryngology as a career choice?
Dr. Wang: Otolaryngology appealed to me because of the intricate anatomy of the head and neck, the variety of diseases, the mixture of clinic and surgery, inpatient and outpatient care, and, of course, the great mentor and role models I saw during my time at medical school. The otolaryngologists were the happiest and nicest surgeons!
Dr. Watson: For me, I knew early on that my mom enjoyed and was deeply invested in her work, and I also knew that she still lived a full life outside of the hospital. I would see her working on charts and research projects in the evenings and on family vacations, but at the same time having lots of fun with our family. As I grew older, I began to understand that [my mother] really liked being an otolaryngologist. It wasn’t some miserable experience that she needed to escape (as I had observed in many other working adults); instead, she was driven by enthusiasm for learning and contributing. I realized I wanted many of the same things in my choice of work. Later, in my third year of medical school, I rotated onto the otolaryngology service and immediately felt at home among the residents and attending physicians. I love the breadth and variety of otolaryngology diagnoses, the easygoing personalities in our field, and the opportunity to serve patients doing procedures in the clinic and the OR.
WayAnne Watson, MD (left), currently a third-year otolaryngology resident at Loma Linda University Health, chose otolaryngology because of the dedication she saw in her mother, Marilene B. Wang, MD, a head and neck surgeon and professor at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine.
Q: Have the two of you ever found yourselves with differing professional approaches or opinions?
Dr. Watson: I’m still in training, so I have a lot of room for evolution and growth in my professional approach. I think I probably haven’t yet fully separated from my mom’s influence as a clinician.
Dr. Wang: Yes. WayAnne is in the early phase of her career, but I hope that as she moves further along, we can have lively discussions and disagreements that will benefit us both. She has unique talents that are different from mine, and I’m sure she will blaze her own trail in a brilliant career path. (That’s this proud mom’s opinion!)