A Mission Of Her Own

Thank you very much Dr. Hutcherson for speaking up for what is right. My parents told me that I could become a doctor because I was not bright enough but I decided to try anyway and I will be graduating in two years. Being a woman is a gift that all women should embrace and cherish. Thank you very much!

Thank you Dr. Hutcherson for sharing a portion of your experience and knowledge. You are a wonderful sister, just wish you were in Florida. Your positive "stand".in reaching your goal is a great encouragement to our children who are so often put down with negative comments. Keep up the good work and I am keeping you in prayers.

My hats off to you sister. I wish you were in Florida. Great motivation for us.Thank you for speaking out and I am keeping you in prayers. God bless you.

Thank you for this article! I am a young, female African-American woman who will graduate from medical school early next year. I am encouraged to see African-American women making strides in medicine. I can only hope to have a positive impact on my patients the way that Dr. Hutcherson seems to have on hers. Dr. Hutcherson serves as a role model for women like me.

I am glad that you shared your own personal experiences with the pelvic exam because sometimes women may think that a doctor is a good doctor but doesn't think they are really "human", that a doctor does not have the same struggles as their patients. Thank you for sharing that.

I would like to know where you are! I have have gone to one Gynogoligist and i wasn't very impressed. I would the chance to be a patient of yours. Thank you for becoming and Ob-Gyn. I really do wish i oculd be a patient of yours. Thank you for becoming a doctor we need more people like you! and i will say it ENOUGH ALREADY!! You're right woman shouldn't have to be perfect. I just wish everyone would lay off!

First of all I just want to say Thank you so much for becoming a doctor. Thank you for being an African American doctor and Thank you so much for being a woman doctor. If you can't tell already, I am so happy you came from being a poor southern black young girl with dreams of becoming a doctor because that way the only place you can go is up. I am really glad you didn't listen to that awful guidance counselor who told you basically you couldn't do it. Thanks you for going back to talk to the kids and letting them know that they can achieve anything they set out to be, so many of our young people think that it will never happen to them. They always think that they're not smart enough. If they could just try it and give it their all they would be surprised of what may come out of it. If they fail, so what, get back up and try it again. I guess that this is a Thank you to you and all the other women who set out to get what they want inspite of what anyone else says. My hat is off to you sista. Now I wish you lived in Colorado where I don't see to many African American Women Doctors.....

Very inspiring. The teacher and guidance counselor are a disgrace and should be selling in a market. Well done Dr. Hutcherson.

Thank you for a wonderful article on a seemingly wonderful woman! As the mother of a young daughter, I often worry about the media influences on my daughter and other young girls growing up as well, it's nice to see that there are still realistic doctors/women out there that understand the complexities of the human body and do not encourage their patients to strive for an unattainable goal of perfection. We've been so wrapped up in trying to get the perfect body, we've forgotten how important it is to nurture a perfect soul. Way to go Newsweek!

What an inspiration! Dr. Hutcherson should carry her message across America so others like me who happened to find this article accidently can learn and benefit from her expereinces and success. I really was looking for something totally different but could not stop reading this interview after her first response to the interviewers question. Such intellectual capital is truly a treasure, so glad to meet you.

Wow, it's refreshing to come across articles like this. I especially agree with what Dr. Hutcherson said about how the medical industry has made "being a woman" a disease. What about all the sick men out there preying on innocent children? Why haven't they directed research and funding into "fixing" those problems instead? It's these corporate conglomerates trying to profit off of our vulnerabilities and the fact that most industries were historically male-dominated so they had a lack of understanding of women. I was a pre-med student and studied psychology, and it's the same within that industry. They tried to classify PMS and menopause as a psychological abnormality!! Fortunately women have entered into these fields now and are putting a stop to such nonsense.

However, we still have a long way to go, especially with how the media portrays impossible standards for women, making us feel even more negative about body image and self esteem. Bravo to Dr. Hutcherson for overcoming those obstacles to get where she is today and for speaking up about these issues that affect every woman. It's great knowing that there are like-minded people out there still.

oh yea, and thanks Newsweek - for noticing the significance of this woman to your readers!

I love strong independent-minded women! A great example here. Makes me want to know more about her and, actually, to know her. I often say to my husband, there's someone I'd like to have over for dinner (could be anyone I've observed at all) and that applies here. Glad you are you Dr. Hilda - and that you persevered.

You Rock! I can only imagine...But hey did you ever tell your "guidance" councelor how wrong they were? I hope so.But best of all; knowing you could and did follow your dreams is what really shines in the faces of ignorance. Awsome!

Thank you!! These words: You have three strikes against you. You're poor, you're black and you're female. You're not going to become a doctor." You are now my biggest inspiration...My 7 year old wants to be doctor, teacher and an astronaut...and you know what??? I tell her that's wonderful because SHE can be whatever she wants to be...and I will stand by her all the way through proper education...Thank you Dr. Hilda

Thank you very much for this article. Perfection, and always having to measure up to someone else's expectations and harse judgments can also be a sign of abusive relationship patterns for someone with a shaky self image to begin with. Controllers love to torture people like that, don't they???

And when you leave those relationships, you are judged even more harshly by people who never understanded the dynamic to begin with and what you are getting yourself away from for your own sanity......

I found your article to be very personally enlightening, it has taken me a long, long time and a long journey to be happy just being me and being myself and thinking that that was good enough, because when everyone blames you for things that aren't your fault in your life, and that is all you hear and know, you begin to believe it of yourself, when deep down you know it is because they can't be responsible for themselves, so they take it out on you, and you take it on, which punishes you even more severely, so no matter how perfect you try to be, you are never good enough for anyone else, and then you aren't happy being in your own skin, so you are doubly victimized.....

I think it is a never-ending cycle for non-controlling people, whether women or men, but your article made me feel that I wasn't alone in the world after all, which was a really good thing to hear...........Thank you so very much!!!!

Thank you for allowing my opinion....Stephanie-skd500

Wow! Thank you very much Dr. Hilda. I have a female OB-GYN, but my doctor and I do not have a connection, where I feel comfortable enough to ask personal questions. You let me know that All female doctors are not the same, by saying how you embrace what you do with open arms. This is something I will definitely discuss with my daughters.

Really appreciate you Dr. Hilda for reinforcing the naturalness and beauty of being a woman and of the natural functions of being a woman. Menopause is the other extreme that women have been told is unnatural -- Embrace All Of This -- It's All Good.

you have inspired me to feel proud of the things I believe in and that I am not the only one who feel s this way regarding these issue's. I am always yelling at the tv about your menstrual cycle being something natural and having them 4 times a year is very unnatural!!! I am a nursing student, and plan to become a nurse midwife and I want to open a clinic to better eduacate women on these very issues. Thank you for being a strong black women who stands up for what she believes in and becoming everything you wanted to be... I will definetley follow in you foot steps...
~another inspired black women