TWiST Newsletter Issue No.190 Is Out!

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Editor’s Note

This issue invites two medical professionals to share how they entered medicine and navigated the challenges of specialty training: pediatrician Professor Ling-Yu Yang and oral and maxillofacial surgeon Professor Chih-Yu Peng.

We also feature an excerpt about Dr. Marie Lin and her “Mackay Blood Bank Women’s Team.” For more than three decades, Dr. Lin—known as the “Mother of Transfusion Medicine in Taiwan”—and her research team devoted themselves to establishing and studying fundamental blood-type data for Taiwan’s population. Their pioneering work produced significant research achievements and benefited countless people. Women can be devoted homemakers while also excelling in surgery, research, and medical education.

Feature Report｜ Professor Ling-Yu Yang of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University describes her unexpected journey into medicine. During the 1980s, many women pursued teacher-training programs. However, her grandfather told her, “Having a child in the family who can attend Taipei First Girls High School is a great honor.” His words inspired her to give up her original plan of becoming a teacher and pursue medicine instead.

A young girl who once dreamed of becoming a homemaker eventually entered the School of Medicine at National Yang-Ming University, became a pediatric specialist, and took responsibility for medical education as a professor. She remains grateful that her grandfather’s persistence allowed her to experience the rewarding journey of becoming both a physician and a teacher.

Career｜ Professor Chih-Yu Peng of the School of Dentistry and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Chung Shan Medical University shares how, under Taiwan’s former entrance-examination system, she had to choose a university major—and effectively a career—at age 18.

While studying dentistry at Kaohsiung Medical University, she devoted her early university years to student clubs and her later years to sports, delaying the reality of clinical dentistry. She eventually returned to her hometown as one of the few women specialists in oral and maxillofacial surgery. At Chung Shan Medical University, she helped establish the oral surgery division and develop it into an accredited specialist-training institution.

Are women suited to oral surgery? Professor Peng believes: “It is not about whether you are suited to it, but whether you are willing. If you remain determined and continue moving forward, unexpected rewards will follow.”

Life｜ This article is excerpted from Footprints of Women 3: A Century of Women’s History in Taiwan, specifically the chapter “Dr. Marie Lin and Her Mackay Blood Bank Women’s Team.”

For more than 30 years, the team led by Dr. Marie Lin established major milestones in Taiwan’s transfusion medicine research. Through blood-sample studies, Dr. Lin investigated Rh blood-group characteristics, developed the simple MP testing method, explored Taiwanese ancestry and population genetics, analyzed blood-related diseases, and helped children with thalassemia. She also established a blood-group antigen database for Taiwan’s population, benefiting many patients.

Dr. Lin and her team of women researchers represent an unforgettable chapter in Taiwan’s history of transfusion medicine and demonstrate the lasting strength and warmth of Taiwanese women.

Latest Event｜ TWiST will hold its annual 2023 Women in Science and Technology Conference on October 27. Under the theme “Women’s Power in Technology on the Global Stage—Prelude,” the conference will connect women in science and technology worldwide and promote diverse and equitable workplaces. All readers are welcome to participate.

Finally, the Post-Event Reports include highlights from the lecture “How to Get Rich—and Why?”, co-hosted by TWiST and the Foundation for Women’s Rights Promotion and Development. Sylvia Kegel, Treasurer of the INWES Executive Board, was invited to share her experience.

The School of Pharmacy at National Taiwan University also celebrated its 70th anniversary with a series of events, including a Women in Science and Technology Panel featuring women in pharmacy discussing their career experiences. Special thanks go to Dr. Wan-Hsun Wu of the National Taiwan University Drug Research Center and pharmacy student Tzu-Hsien Wu for summarizing the presentations for readers.

Original Articles in Issue 190

• Feature Report: “My Life in Medicine” — Ling-Yu Yang

• Career: “Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Me” — Chih-Yu Peng

• Post-Event Report: “How to Get Rich?—Summary of the Social Enterprise Innovation Lecture” — Compiled by Chia-Te Cheng and reviewed by Ming-Hsiu Chen

• Post-Event Report: “Reflections on the Women in Science and Technology Panel” — Tzu-Hsien Wu and Wan-Hsun Wu

For more content, please visit the newsletter: http://www.twepress.net/resources/tfst/item/1447-tfst190