When I asked Dr Monica Aggarwal to join me on this podcast, I figured we'd talk about her plant-based advocacy at the University of Florida, where she is an assistant professor of medicine and Director of Integrative Cardiology and Prevention.
We got there, eventually, but took a fascinating detour into the gender politics of medicine, and cardiology in particular.
Dr Aggarwal was on the career track to success and acclaim as a cardiologist, and at the same time refused to sacrifice her "childbearing" years. So with three children at home and a demanding practice, she wore her body down until it gave up, in the form of rheumatoid arthritis.
Now a patient, Dr Aggarwal got to experience the medical profession from the other side. She discovered lifestyle medicine, and healed herself through self-care and balanced living.
Through her own journey of illness, she became a much better healer herself.
We talked about what it takes for a woman to succeed in a male-dominated specialty like cardiology, and what medical education and practice might look like if it valued the gifts of the feminine as much as those of the masculine.
And what a female-friendly medical system might look like, and how we might get there.