Lynda Carter, TV’s original Wonder Woman, offers lessons learned for the field of radiology

Lynda Carter, TV’s original Wonder Woman, is offering the field of radiology a few lessons learned from her acting career.

The Phoenix native and Miss World USA winner was down to her last $25 when she landed the role as Diana Prince in the mid-1970s. While only a fictional character, Wonder Woman became a symbol of women’s empowerment, Carter wrote Friday in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Women looked to the character as a “feminist icon” at a time when almost all TV shows had male leads. And the character helped pave the way for today’s female figureheads.

“However, the paucity of role models who are women remains a problem in medical fields that are traditionally dominated by men, such as radiology,” Carter, alongside members of Johns Hopkins University’s department of radiology, wrote Dec. 3. “Despite our progress in promoting gender equity in radiology, there remains a substantial gender gap in the radiology physician workforce, especially at leadership levels. It is important for our women leaders who have reached the top to ‘send the elevator back down’ to raise up the next generation of women leaders.”

Carter and her co-authors said one way women can help lead is by offering empathy as a remedy for workplace fatigue. Burnout is “pervasive” in the specialty, with one-third of radiologists experience symptoms. However, Carter and Johns Hopkins see it as a “stress fracture rather than an insufficiency fracture.”

“We need to use our empathy superpowers to listen more and understand one another’s challenges,” they concluded. “We need to ‘put one foot in front of the other’ and strive toward systemic and organizational changes with open dialogue among radiologists and practice leaders, to foster an environment of mutual trust, respect and support.”

Read more in JACR below.