Back to Front PageVOLUME 6, NUMBER 4

Readers Respond

How can academic medical centers better address sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination? To adequately address sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination, we must judge our academic leaders by what they do, not just by what they say. Search committees should ask candidates for their views on faculty development and then independently verify candidates' track records in hiring and developing female faculty. The performance of current institutional leaders and department chairs should be reviewed in a similar manner, and such reviews should include regular, anonymous input from faculty. We must address not only the egregious examples of harassment and salary discrepancies, but also the attitudes of those who set the standards for departments and institutions. Laura Fochtmann, M.D. Associate Professor Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences SUNY-Stony Brook School of Medicine The solution must start at the highest levels. Department chairmen, as well as deans and chancellors, must set an example and make clear that discrimination will not be tolerated. To help enforce this policy, there should be at least two women on all key committees, particularly search and nominating committees. There also must be an office that deals justly, swiftly, and diplomatically with complaints of harassment or discrimination. Rita F. Redberg, M.D. Research Director UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health Medical schools should survey faculty, students, and staff annually on their understanding of the elements of bias and sexual harassment; awareness of and attendance at workshops on these issues; direct and indirect experiences with such situations; and resolutions or changes that were made on a personal, departmental, or college level to address the situations. Information should be gathered, tallied, and published in ways that protect anonymity and foster growth, respect, and positive professional development. Leilani Doty, Ph.D. Academic medical centers can better address sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination by mandating the appointment of a medical center vice president who is an expert in equity and advocacy to oversee formal annual programs with mandatory attendance of all faculty, administrators, and staff. Annual anonymous surveys of faculty experiences with harassment and bias, safe reporting, investigations, and repercussions must be conducted. Rewards must also be established for system changes and equity fairness. Leah J. Dickstein, M.D. Professor and Associate Chair for Academic Affairs Associate Dean for Faculty and Student Advocacy University of Louisville School of Medicine "Know thyself" is the best approach to addressing these issues. Leadership -deans and chairs-need to have ongoing training regarding both the impact of gender discrimination and their roles in addressing it. Until every leader in an institution understands and is committed to ending gender-based discrimination, nothing will change. The funding of "Centers of Excellence in Gender and Ethnic Diversity" may suggest value and promote change in ways mere words cannot accomplish. Joanna M. Cain, M.D. Professor and Chair Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women's Health The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine To address sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination in academic medical centers, there needs to be: 1) increased opportunity for women in senior-level positions both academic and administrative; 2) training and mentoring programs that enhance the skills necessary for women to succeed in those positions; and 3) career track and timing expectations that appropriately recognize the important and valuable impact that other life demands, i.e., family, have on women. Creating forums for discussion of these issues in a meaningful way among the leadership of academic medical centers, as well as dissemination of information about programs that successfully implemented the above suggestions, is also critical. Thomas G. DeWitt, M.D. Carl Weil Professor and Director, Division of General and Community Pediatrics University of Cincinnati School of Medicine Gender discrimination and harassment today may not result from any conscious effort to sustain a particular bias, but rather an unconscious failure to identify it as such and initiate meaningful redress. Strategies to identify these inequities will benefit both women and men, ultimately improving organizational productivity and retention of talented faculty in academic medicine and clinical practice. Assimilating individuals into cultural norms, accommodating their particular needs, and celebrating gender differences do not address the underlying causes of inequities. Persistent inquiries into human behaviors are needed to eventually minimize gender bias. Linda R. Adkison, Ph.D. Professor of Genetics Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology Mercer University School of Medicine Addressing unconscious perceptions is key. In a role-playing exercise, individuals were unaware of their label and treated each other according to that label. As "genius," I was convinced I wore a masculine adjective. Intolerance of obvious bias, coupled with identification of unconscious bias, creates a setting in which everyone can be seen as equal. Mentoring, including formal programs of mini-sabbaticals with an administrativeleader, opens people's minds to the possibilities. Kristine M. Lohr, M.D. Professor of Medicine Associate Chief, Division of Rheumatology The University of Tennessee Health Science Center Next month's question: What is the most valuable piece of medical wisdom you have learned from a patient? Please send your responses (75 words or fewer) to rmuir@aamc.org or fax to (202) 828-1123. Responses must be received by August 14 for consideration, and may be edited for length and clarity. Also, please include your title, institution, and any academic degrees. Select answers will be printed in the September edition of the AAMC Reporter.

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