Dr. Amy Ho is an emergency room doctor at Baylor Hospital and John Peter Smith Hospital.
When she started her career in medicine, she was often told there was no room for both her career and a family.
“When I was in medical school, all of my female mentors told me that you have to pick family or you have to pick medicine,” Ho said. “That was like really terrifying as a young female. I loved medicine so I said I am going to do this and I am going to figure out the personal life later."
Those words always stuck with her. When the pandemic began, she started to see women in medicine as she had never seen them before.
“I felt they had a story of saving lives at work and creating lives with their family that wasn’t something that was ever said. This was a book for me that wanted to celebrate them,” Ho said. “My book is called ‘Is Mommy a Doctor or a Superhero?’ It was in the works for a few years, but then when the pandemic hit and I saw these incredible women who were inspiring me, I was ready to write it.”
Ho published her children’s book in the midst of the pandemic almost as a thank you to all those women in medicine who are doing it all.
“I look at some of my colleagues that are also homeschooling, preparing the meals, helping their spouse at home who are working from home. Doing that all day and then coming in for a night shift to save lives? That’s when I knew that this was a story that needed to be told about them," Ho said.
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She said she can only hope people see the story as a way of celebrating women and empowering the younger generation.
'Is Mommy a Doctor or a Superhero' is available in English and Spanish.
