Founder's Story
Breaking the Scalpel Ceiling: Dr. Paula Ferrada’s Trailblazing Journey in Trauma Surgery | Ep. 189
Sat, 15 Mar 2025
Dr. Paula A. Ferrada, MD, is a trailblazer trauma surgeon who has shattered barriers in a traditionally male-dominated field. Hailing from Colombia, her remarkable journey to becoming a leading surgeon in the U.S. exemplifies resilience, innovation, and unwavering determination. Her groundbreaking work redefines trauma care and paves the way for future generations of women in medicine.HER JOURNEY: FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS TO THE OREarly Life & Inspiration:Born in Colombia, where her nurse mother and surgeon father introduced her to medicine at a very young age.“Surgery picked me,” she recalls, having witnessed deliveries and surgeries as a child.Path to the U.S.:Moved to the United States to train at renowned institutions such as Emory, Grady Memorial, and eventually Harvard—becoming the first Colombian woman to graduate from a Harvard surgery program.Further honed her skills through fellowships in Pittsburgh, Maryland’s Shock Trauma center, and over a decade of practice at Virginia Commonwealth University.BREAKING BARRIERS & LEADING WITH EMPATHYOvercoming Challenges: Latina physicians represent only 6.3% of the U.S. physician pool, with Latina female physicians making up less than 2.4%. Dr. Ferrada’s achievements speak volumes about perseverance in a challenging field.Leadership Style: Believes in vulnerability, teamwork, and creating a culture where every team member feels empowered to speak up.Asserts that true leadership in trauma is about trusting your team and maintaining a patient-centered focus, even under pressure.PASSION FOR RESEARCH & MENTORSHIPAdvancing Medicine: Authored over 130 peer-reviewed articles, driving forward innovation in trauma care by challenging old paradigms.Empowering the Next Generation: A dedicated mentor whose guidance has inspired many young surgeons to achieve their goals.Passionate about building a legacy based not on accolades but on the lives she’s helped shape.THE HUMAN SIDE OF TRAUMA SURGERYThriving Under Pressure: Embraces the intensity of trauma surgery, where split-second decisions make a life-or-death difference.Wellness & Resilience: Focuses on gratitude, maintaining autonomy, and cherishing the little moments of joy (like catching a glimpse of the sunshine) as key elements to avoid burnout and keep passion alive.Learn more at: https://www.inova.org/doctors/paula-a-ferrada-mdOur Sponsors:* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://www.avocadogreenmattress.com* Check out Indeed: https://indeed.com/FOUNDERSSTORY* Check out Kinsta: https://kinsta.com* Check out Northwest Registered Agent and use my code FOUNDERS for a great deal: https://northwestregisteredagent.com* Check out Plus500: https://plus500.com* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Chapter 1: Who is Dr. Paula Ferrada and what is her journey?
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Founders Story. Today, we have a very special guest. And I've really been interested to learn more about what is it like to be a trauma surgeon. So we wanted to get an incredible, inspirational person, Dr. Paula Ferrata. You are a trauma surgeon. You were born in Columbia. And I know you're going to share your whole story.
And you are now one of the few doing what you do with the background that you have. And it's amazing. I mean, a trauma surgeon has to be one of the most complex jobs in the world. I mean, I can't wait to dive in. But let's begin with your story. How did you and why did you want to become a surgeon?
Dan, it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me. As you said, I was born in Colombia, South America, and I had the privilege of having a mom that was a nurse and a dad that was a surgeon. And I'm going to be honest and vulnerable. When they didn't have health, when they didn't have child care, it just brought me to work. So I saw babies being delivered when I was 11 years old.
I started watching my dad in the operating room when I was 12 years old. And it was more like surgery picked me than the other way around. Now, how I made it to the United States is like doing training. In Colombia, we would go straight from high school to medical school and doing training. There was a gap. So I came to the United States to Emory Grading Memorial to do a rotation.
Chapter 2: How did Dr. Ferrada overcome challenges in her surgical career?
And I was just amazed in the care that people get in the United States and the facts that We had blood available, that we have helicopters available, that we have CT scans available, things that in Latin America, especially in the university hospital, were not.
So I always wanted to train in the United States so I can somehow find a way to not only give back to Colombia and to the world, but I think that get the best of both worlds so we can help the patient in need.
That's amazing. So you're in the US, you starting to be a surgeon. How was that experience? And I know we were talking earlier, there's very few women who are in that role. Were there any challenges breaking down these barriers and really proving that you are just as great as anyone else as a surgeon?
I think I'm super happy that I came to the United States. I'm very proud of everything that we have done. I always, I came with the intention of going back, but you know, life happens and you know, I got married and I have, I have children.
Like, so I never really went back physically, but there's a lot of things that we do in collaboration with Latin American, with the world, especially the world of trauma that I have the privilege of being part of. If you talk about proving yourself, I think I'm still proving myself every day.
In the United States, Latino physicians represent only 6.3% of the total physician pool and Latina female physicians are less than 2.4% of all United States physicians. And that's all physicians, not only surgeons. Now, in terms of advancing in leadership roles, full professors of surgery that is who I am is only at 21%.
Surgery chairs, which is the privilege that I have the privilege of serving, you know, by healthcare by being the chair of surgery, only 14% are women. From those three are Latina and one is a foreign writer. So I consider this an honor that I don't take for granted. So the path coming to the United States, I came to Miami. I did a lot of work. I did research.
Then I was promised a spot that I didn't get, but it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. You know, my mom used to say, always things happen for a reason. And you at the time don't believe it, but it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me because I had the opportunity to go to Boston and
and train at one of the Harvard programs and be the first Colombian woman that graduated from a Harvard program from surgery. And that was a great experience. I didn't do it with the intention of being the first at anything, but I think my presence at those institutions actually helped other Latino surgeons and other women surgeons to create a path also of success that now I'm seeing.
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Chapter 3: What is Dr. Ferrada's leadership philosophy in trauma surgery?
You don't want to make mistakes. Nobody shows up to make mistakes. I think that the care of the trauma patient is not depending on one person. It's a team. You have your team of nurses. You have a team of emergency medicine physicians. You have the trauma circle. You have your intensivists, nurses, respiratory therapists, residents, fellows. They're all part of the team.
I think that we have a lot of people things in place that prevents us from doing mistakes. And when there's a mistake, it gets caught by somebody in the team so we can all serve the patient better. And we also have, especially in the United States systems where we can go back and look at things that happen for patients. So you honor those patients by not letting it happen again.
I think that how do you deal with it? I think it's a stressful process. But it's also fun. I don't think burnout happens in the intensity or the time that it takes for us to do the things that we do. I think burnout for physicians happens when you lose the autonomy of taking the decisions that you think are best for your patients. So I think autonomy and I think focusing on gratitude.
It sounds maybe silly, but... Focus on the hormones that make you happy. Make sure you see the sun shine every day, that serotonin. Make sure that you feel accomplished, that's dopamine. Make sure you don't lose connection with your own purpose. Have your purpose really clear and don't lose that connection.
And don't lose connections with patients because it's through those connections where we feel that our purpose as healers is accomplished.
Thank you for sharing that. And I could see where it's really a team effort. So when it comes to leadership, what do you find works well for you? Or what do you do to really create this unified team effort?
I think that it's very important that even if the surgeon is the captain of the ship, that the captain of the ship feels that he or she is able to share vulnerability with your team. It's okay to say that you're tired. It's okay to ask for help. Not only okay, it's necessary. for you to be able to show vulnerability to your team.
And when we go through these difficult situations, let's say you have a mass casualty or a patient that is really sick, those moments of acute stress actually bring people together. So capitalize on those times to create those relationships.
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Chapter 4: How does Dr. Ferrada maintain resilience and wellness?
I truly believe that the safest operating room or the safest trauma bay in the world is where everybody feels that they can speak their mind without fear of retaliation. Where you can be like, yeah, she or he is the surgeon, but I can say, hey, can you explain this to me? Why are you doing things differently? Why are you deviating from protocol?
And I think that the only way to achieve that is creating relationships of true trust, knowing that we all are there with the sole purpose of making a patient better. We all want the same thing. Nobody showed up in the team to do the wrong thing.
And we start by not assuming evil, always assuming good intent, having a culture of trust and psychological safety, be able to speak up to each other without fear of retaliation, and have the ability of showing vulnerability to each other.
I know you've published over 130 peer reviewed articles, which is incredible. What makes you so passionate for the research side?
Because I think through research and education, we make patients better. I think that the most dangerous phrase in science and in surgery, but in science overall is we are doing it because we have always done it that way. I think you have to have the opportunity of questioning the status quo. And if the status quo is not good enough, create a new status quo.
And the only way you do it is through investigation. So I think that educating our new generation ensures that our patients get the best care, right? These people, their residents, our residents, our fellows, our students are going to be the people that are going to take care of me and our family. So we want them to be the best possible. And that's why education is so important.
And then research is what allows us to change the status quo, number one, prove the status quo if it doesn't need changing. But if there's an impact that we can do that is in a broader scale, not only for Northern Virginia population of one-on-one with the patient, but nationwide or global-wise, I think that it's through research that we are able to answer those questions.
Amazing. I mean, when you come back in a year, you might be at 250, 300 peer-reviewed articles. I can tell you're very passionate about that. And I mean, it sounds like that could cement your legacy in the future, all of this research and changing the status quo. And people are going to be learning from what you're doing, and they're going to be using that. And
And you're going to be, you know, one of the best in your field, which is incredible in terms of I think we all want to be known for something. So when it comes to the future for you, what does the future look like for you? What are you hopeful for doing in the future?
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