Bethany doctor grateful to lead all-female operating room team

News 12's Angelica Toruno joined a Bethany doctor for National Women Physicians Day on Saturday to learn more about women in medicine and their achievements in health care.

Angelica Toruno, Robyn Karashik and Rose Shannon

Feb 3, 2024, 6:05 PM

Updated 327 days ago

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News 12's Angelica Toruno joined a Bethany doctor for National Women Physicians Day on Saturday to learn more about women in medicine and their achievements in health care.
Dr. Glenda Callender is an endocrine surgeon and a thyroid cancer specialist at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport. She said she never dreamt of being an endocrine surgeon – it just happened.
"It ended up being sort of a snap decision, but it really worked for me…I did all my training up front and got myself more established as a surgeon,” said Callender. “I ended up having a child very late in life. For somebody else, that decision would have been very difficult.”
She said the sacrifices she went through, like many other women in medicine, is what led her to succeed in her career. She also thanked the pioneers who came before her for making such a feat possible.
This sense of pride and empowerment is what led her to have an entire woman-run team in the operating room on most days.
“I think that we do a great job taking care of patients and I certainly do take a lot of pride in that," she said.