Doctor returns to MUSC to talk about Superwoman complex

With a red "No" symbol emblazoned across the word ‘Superwoman,’ MUSC alumna C. Nicole Swiner, M.D., has some explaining to do.

The family physician, wife and mother of two, author, conference planner, social media guru and businesswoman juggles on a superhuman level that would seem to run counter to the theme of her recent book: “How to Avoid the Superwoman Complex.”

Swiner will be speaking on that topic in a session that's open to the public at the Medical University of South Carolina March 25, 11 a.m., at the Bioengineering Building. The physician, who co-owns a private practice in Durham, North Carolina, noticed her patients and the public seemed interested in her blogs and a local newspaper column she wrote about health issues ranging from diabetes to depression. She began speaking at community events and sharing healthy living tips on social media and gained a following.

She realized she was doing medicine in a different way, holistically, and patients were liking it.

“Since becoming a doctor, I’ve become a wife, and I’ve become a mom of two girls, and I have been just learning how this all fits together. Trying to balance all of this can be very challenging. So I shared some of my personal stories: how was it coming back to work after maternity leave and having your first baby, and how I’m trying to balance this business and being home in time for dinner. “

She saw some of the same struggles in her patients. She encouraged them to tell her their stories. She noticed how it affected their health.

“You can throw medicine at people all of the time, but if you never fix what’s wrong with them emotionally, nothing will really ever change.”

A case in point was one of her morbidly obese patients, who was a borderline diabetic and had high blood pressure. For the past two years she wanted to get serious about her health. “We talked about the root cause of her overeating. It had a lot to do with a failed relationship and with depression. Once we started focusing on her depression, she started to pick up that motivation, was encouraged to eat better and exercise.”

Her patient lost 50 pounds and was able to come off her medication. “That’s the kind of stuff I’m talking about.”

Swiner said she can relate almost any medical condition back to stress. Many women fail to take care of themselves mentally, physically and emotionally. It was one reason she wrote her book and began landing speaking engagements at conferences.

“It’s been so exciting to be able to touch people with medicine in a different way, particularly for women because I see so many women struggling right now. Women deal with stress in very different and specific ways than men do. If we can fix the stress, then we can fix the root of the problems and we can prevent many of these diseases.”

As far as how she handles the stress in her own life, Swiner said it doesn’t feel as if she’s juggling too much because this kind of community outreach fuels her energies. “It’s more of a passion now than writing a prescription for something. You can’t just fix one part.”

That realization was inspired from experience. Born in Columbia, Swiner has family roots in Charleston. She enjoyed going to medical school at MUSC.  It’s where she learned one of her first important life lessons: Ask for help when needed.

When she was a first-year medical student, she remembers being overwhelmed by all the new information. She struggled to adjust her study habits, and fortunately found some great mentors.

“One encouraged me to use the student center and taught me the right way to study based on your personality. Medical school is a whole different animal. They had to teach me how to study for what was best for me. That saved my career. Reach out and ask for help if you need it. You have to learn the best way for you to learn. Don’t struggle alone.”

The same holds true for her patients. When Swiner learned that a UNC-owned family practice she worked for was relocating to a “richer” neighborhood, she decided she would break out on her own with a partner in a private practice. “So we said, ‘No, we love it here and love our patients,’ and we’ve been successful for the last six years in a row.”

She also values the role model value she brings to the community. Her practice serves a lower socioeconomic area with a heavy percentage of minority patients. “I think I’m someone they don’t normally get to see in this role, and I think that’s important especially for my younger minority patients to know they can do something if they have a dream. They can make it happen no matter what their circumstances.”

Swiner stays involved in community events and charities. Her goal is to make family medicine more accessible and to see better reimbursement rates for primary care doctors, whom she sees as being in the trenches. “We’re the soldiers. We have to sift through this muck and mire to make sure our patients understand and often we get paid the least to do the most work. People need to have access to good quality health care.

“I hope more doctors will think outside of the box and see the patient more holistically, emotionally and physically, versus just the ‘part’ they are charged in taking care of.”

One way she’s thinking outside the box is using social media to get out her health messages. It’s been a powerful tool for her as well as speaking at conferences. One of her last conference sessions was themed, “Do it afraid.”

“It has a lot to do with making those changes that you know you want, and you should do, but you’ve been hesitating for some reason. It’s always something that’s not quite perfect for you to make that jump. The point is that there is never the perfect time to do that thing, so why not just do it? You might actually succeed.”

Her faith sustains her in many ways, Swiner said, adding that doing family medicine feels like a ministry to her.

“You have to figure out what that thing is that gives you an adrenaline rush. It literally is an intuition and a feeling that you have when you’re doing something when you get the ‘aha’ moment, and you’re like, ‘This is it, this is why I was put on this earth.’ I get satisfaction out of this. It’s about the feeling that you get that tells you what your passion is.”

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Swiner’s Top Tips: How to avoid the Superwoman Complex:

1. Give yourself permission to be imperfect.

Don’t allow yourself to feel like you have to be perfect all of the time and live up to these standards. Most of these standards we’ve created ourselves…So give yourself permission to not be perfect and be you the best way you can be.

2. Go to bed.

If I could list sleep as a hobby, I would. Going to bed on time and having a good seven or eight hours of rest for me is paramount. On the weekends I nap. It’s more important to people’s health than they realize.

3. Relax.

Find things that you like to do for rest, emotional rest, and mental rest. I like to get massages, I like to have date night every week with my husband, find some hobbies that help you to relax and do this often.

4. Find your passion.

Writing, speaking and social media postings energize me. It doesn’t feel like work. When you're passionate about your work, you can do it all day long and not tire.

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Swiner’s talk will be March 25 in the Bioengineering Building in room 110 at 11 a.m. The event is open to the public. It is hosted by: College of Medicine Center for ARROWS (Advancement, Recruitment and Retention of Women in Science), MUSC Women Scholars Initiative and the University Chief Diversity Office. To reserve a seat, reply by March 22 to reynodh@musc.edu.