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Things to Know As California Starts Screening
An Ode to Trailblazing Women in Medicine
Earlier this year, SCCMA requested that our community nominate trailblazing women who’ve demonstrated fearless creativity and innovation in healthcare leadership, research, education, medical practice, and community service. We were floored by your submissions. Below are your SCCMA Woman Trailblazers, in the words of their nominees.
Suchada Nopachai, MD Physician | Kaiser Permanente
Nominated by: Colleague, Sharon Ngo Tran | Community Engagement Manager | Kaiser Permanente
The Trailblazing Woman I’m Nominating is a: Ruckus-maker, Change-maker, Altruist
What strikes you most about this person?
I first met Dr. Suchada Nopachai when she volunteered to teach a group of at-risk high school youth from the Eastside Union High School District hands only CPR. She’s a humble physician with a sparkle in her eyes as she taught this interactive class. It was inspiring to learn how she turned her almost personal tragedy and into a monumental calling.
I am putting forth Dr. Suchada Nopachai as my nominee for the TRAILBLAZING WOMEN IN MEDICINE award because of all the work she’s done in just 5 years with the California Medical Association, local schools, fire departments, the American Heart Association, and other entities around education of the life saving hands only CPR training. She is a ruckus maker and catalyzed change in putting forth a law to ensure that teachers and staff of K-12 and high school students all over California are CPR trained. She is an altruist in empowering all, even our youth, with the tools to save lives. She has made a huge impact to our community and society and continues to drive that message every day in her passion.
Tell us a story about something extraordinary this woman has done.
Dr. Suchada Nopachai, a gynecologic surgeon at the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, took an almost personal tragedy and turned it into a greater calling. In 2014, her then 4 year old son suddenly collapsed into cardiac arrest while playing in a park. She administered CPR and immediately rushed him to Kaiser Permanente San Jose, where he would fully recover. Following this event, Dr. Nopachai wrote to the California Medical Association (CMA) advocating that all teachers and staff of K-12 and high school students be CPR trained. This resolution was passed and she helped push it forward to becoming California law. Because of her efforts, bill AB 1719 mandates that all public and charter high schools require a course in health education for graduation to include instruction in performing hands-only CPR. This work has become her passion and not only has she helped implement CPR recertification training for physicians, piloted a program with the American Heart Association that provides infant CPR kids and training to new moms with premature or health-compromised babies, but can be found training students all across the bay area. She saw an opportunity for positive change and her impactful work may double or triple a person’s chance of surviving a cardiac arrest.
Tanya Spirtos, MD OBGYN| Stanford’s Women’s Care Medical Group
Nominated by: Colleague, Cindy Russell, MD | Palo Alto Medical Foundation
The Trailblazing Woman I’m Nominating is a: Altruist What strikes you most about this person?
Her persistent calm stability and fairness in the face of conflict or chaos.
Tell us a story about something extraordinary this
woman has done.
Altruism is a traditional virtue whereby an individual directs their attention to the happiness and well-being of others, with no expectation of reciprocal benefit. Dr. Spirtos exhibits this quality in all aspects of her life. She has been a rising star in the House of Medicine since she started practice in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1990’s. She began her career as a Board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and early on co-authored a series of groundbreaking articles on laparoscopy in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She became president of the Santa Clara County Medical Association (SCCMA) in 2005 and was elected to the CMA Board of Trustees in 2009. She was vice speaker of the CMA HOD in 2018-2019 and is currently the Speaker of the House for the CMA.
Despite all of her accomplishments she never sought the limelight to push her own agenda, but only worked to further high-quality patient care, ethics in medicine as well as to support physicians in their increasingly difficult quest to practice good medicine. She is a sincere altruist, giving her time and energy to the House of Medicine.
I most fondly remember her in her role as our local delegation chair for the CMA House of Delegates, giving sage advice to us novices. She was not critical of our resolutions, nor our lack of experience. With grace, kindness and wisdom she shepherded us through the complex process of passing resolutions which led to valuable policies for the CMA. It is an intimidating process made much easier with her gentle encouragement. She listens, quickly understands and finds a way to skillfully navigate the boat through rough waters. She is honest and trustworthy, and one who is depended upon for counsel in many areas of medicine and beyond. It is no exaggeration to say that when Dr. Spirtos speaks others listen. I enthusiastically nominate Dr. Tanya Spirtos for The Trailblazing Woman Award as an Altruist.
Nirmaljit dhami Nirmaljit Dhami, MD Perinatal Psychiatrist |Bay Area maternal mental health and el Camino health
Nominated by: Colleague, Zahida ayyib Zahida Tayyib, MD | Psychiatrist | Mountain View TMS
The Trailblazing Woman I’m Nominating is a: Ruckus-maker, Change-maker, Altruist
What strikes you most about this person?
Dr. Dhami Has unrelenting kindness, empathy and passion towards our patients and has developed the field of perinatal psychiatry here in the bay area after identifying it as an unmet community need. She’s now recognized as a national and international expert in the field of perinatal psychiatry
Tell us a story about something extraordinary this woman has done.
About 11 years ago Dr. Dhami helped start an outpatient program for pregnant and postpartum women who are suffering with serious mental health issues. The program has now grown to encompass a partial hospitalization day treatment program, intensive outpatient program as well as a one of a kind inpatient psychiatry unit to treat women with perinatal mental health issues. Under her leadership, the El Camino program continues to grow and thrive serving women with serious mental health issues and stabilizing them. She has also brought an attachment and bonding work and emphasized in wall made of infants has the mom recovers from serious mental health issues
Nominated by: Friend, Steve Jackson, MD | Retired Physician
The Trailblazing Woman I’m Nominating is a: Change-maker
What strikes you most about this person?
Dr. Russell’s knowledge, enthusiasm, expertise, and unflagging determination to bring environmental health issues and concerns to the attention of both physicians and the public. Her selfless dedication to educate and advocate for promoting the environmental health of our County, state and nation, and overcoming the multitude of forces and obstacles she inevitably encounters.
Tell us a story about something extraordinary this woman has done.
Dr. Russell, largely single handedly, has raised awareness about the adverse effects of wireless technology on the health of both children and adults. In addition to her articles and talks on this subject, she has organized two extraordinary and successful educational conferences for the public on the potentially harmful effects of wireless technology. She has battled the giant wireless corporate-industrial complex by bringing the truth - the scientific facts - to her audiences. She is a “voice in the wilderness” in terms of highlighting the impact of wireless technology on the physical, psychological, cognitive and social well being of our society.
