Ep 137: Believing in Children and Adults
“ And there's a lot of work still that needs to be done to break down those barriers and reduce the stigma. So, people feel comfortable about talking about the problem acknowledging the problem and having the confidence to go and do something about that because we know that more than 60% of people with incontinence never actually seek help.”
“ But trying to find that key to give them the power, the strengths to be able to make those changes is similar. In adults believing in themselves, part of it comes in believing in themselves. And I believe in adults, I believe in children, and I want everyone out there to believe in themselves as much as I believe.”
“Creating those role models and mentors of women who are successful in those areas and are able to do it with their own, in their own woman that way, alters society's understanding or perceptions or definition of what a woman is.”
TIME STAMP SUMMARY
01:16 Becoming the first female to complete urological training in South Australia
04:31 The stigma attached to incontinence procedures
09: 13 Being passionate about business
11:30 Becoming an author
16:56 Tackling the career gap for women
Where to find Samantha Pillay MBBS FRACS GAID ?
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthapillay
Website https://samanthapillay.com/
Who is Samantha Pillay MBBS FRACS GAID?
Samantha finished school at age 16 years and commenced studying medicine at The University of Adelaide. Driven to take on challenges, she became the first woman in South Australia to complete the adult Urological Surgical training program despite physical limitations from congenital hip dysplasia.
Whilst training in urology, Samantha saw a need for a greater focus on incontinence treatments for women and a need for specialised care. Her vision was to establish a sub-specialty practice bringing the best treatments available to the women of South Australia. She became the first urologist in Australia to exclusively specialise in female and functional urology, establishing Continence Matters in 2002, subsequently building her single surgeon practice into a Centre of Excellence.
Dr Pillay has served on numerous National and State boards and committees, including,
Chair of the Female Urology Special Advisory Group for the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand from 2007 to 2013. Samantha has devoted her career as a surgeon to treating incontinence, reducing the stigma, and educating doctors, health professionals and the community. She has developed an online Continence Course to educate health professionals in an area often neglected. https://samanthapillay.thinkific.com/courses/continence-course. She challenges career gender stereotypes, breaking the glass ceiling for women, and advocates for healthy living, reducing the risk factors for preventable chronic disease.
She is a single mother, surgeon, running a business and a household, who enjoys writing in her spare time.
Now she is a two-time Amazon No1 Best Selling author of:
The No Recipe Cookbook – a cookbook for people who don’t cook.
When I’m a Surgeon – an inspirational children’s picture book with the companion Activity Book
Her next book – ‘When I’m an Entrepreneur’, is due for release early 2022.
Samantha was a nominee for SA Australian of the Year 2022.
