The path to becoming a weight loss surgeon is challenging, but for Dr. Melanie Hafford, one she is proud to have forged. “I always knew I wanted to become a doctor, but it took a while to embrace the idea of being a surgeon,” she says. “I was often told that, as a woman surgeon, I would have to choose between family and career.” Dr. Hafford stayed the course and chose both. Today, she is a mother and the director of bariatric surgery at UT Southwestern’s Frisco campus. Only 25% of surgeons are women, and 2% are black women—the reason Dr. Hafford uses her platform for community outreach and mentoring. “When I was coming through medical school, it was hard to determine which space you feel like you belong in,” she says. “My hope is for other surgeons to be able to see themselves in my story.”
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