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A Word From The President:Women in Medicine: Much Progress, Much Work To Do
In 1976, the AAMC established its Women in Medicine program with a primary goal of improving the environment for women students. At that time, less than one in four medical school matriculants was a woman; a mere 25 years later, nearly one in two can claim that distinction. That's progress by any standard! Clearly that progress cannot be credited solely to our Women in Medicine program. Nevertheless, through its publications, educational offerings, and professional development seminars, the program has developed into a national resource, providing thousands of women students, residents, and faculty members with the skills and support they need to thrive in academic medicine. The program has also provided valuable resources to medical schools and teaching hospitals aimed at bolstering their efforts to achieve gender equity throughout their ranks. Indeed, under the leadership of the AAMC's Janet Bickel, Women in Medicine has earned an enviable reputation as the premier program dedicated to advancing women in academic medicine. Although the success of women in reaching virtual parity in our medical school classes has been nothing short of remarkable, our Women in Medicine program still has much left to accomplish before declaring victory and folding its tent. As seasoned women professionals know all too well, the doubling of female medical students in the span of a generation is only the beginning. It's one thing to gain parity with men at entry into medical school; it's quite another thing to gain that parity in the upper ranks of academia. At present, only 14 percent of tenured faculty and only 12 percent of full professors are women. Admitting more women at the front end will not, by itself, overcome this dearth of female leadership in medical schools. To state the reasons favoring the ascension of more women to leadership positions is to belabor the obvious. Suffice to say that half of the intellectual capital of the human race belongs to women; only a fool would choose to limit his access to this vital resource. At a time when leadership is increasingly recognized as not only essential but also in short supply, tapping the growing reservoir of women for promotion to key management positions ceases to be just right - it becomes damn smart. Our Women in Medicine program has long since taken up the challenge of increasing the ranks of women in faculty leadership positions. Its highly successful professional development seminars for early career, mid-career, and senior women have enrolled some 2,500 participants over the years. These seminars provide excellent opportunities for networking, mentoring, and honing specific leadership skills. But helping women develop the tools and personal contacts needed to advance to leadership positions is only half the battle. Think of this half as preparing the ligands. What remains is the second, arguably larger half of the battle, preparing the receptor sites. And to do that means identifying and removing the barriers to women's advancement that reside in deeply rooted cultural norms and outmoded institutional policies. To address this "receptor" problem, the AAMC five years ago formed the Increasing Women's Leadership in Academic Medicine Implementation Committee, composed of medical school deans, teaching hospital leaders, faculty, and trainees. This committee formulated several concrete recommendations for necessary changes. Over the past five years, it has created a much more comprehensive database on women's representation in academic medicine and this summer approved its final report for AAMC Executive Council consideration in February. I can assure you it will be a call for action, and I am eager to lead the charge. I am convinced that cultivating diversity in our faculty and in our leadership is an indispensable strategic instrument for meeting the challenges that academic medicine faces in the 21st century. Grooming women for leadership positions and eradicating the barriers currently impeding their success are essential components of this strategy. Those institutions that fail to seize the advantages offered by elevating talented women to positions of power are destined to be eclipsed by those that do. I'm willing to predict that before Women in Medicine celebrates another 25 years, we'll see significant shifts toward gender parity at the upper stages of academe, similar to what we've witnessed over the past 25 years at the beginning stages of medical school. Admittedly, much work remains to be done to make that prediction come true. But if it's work that's needed, we can count on the Women in Medicine program to be in there in force. Jordan J. Cohen, M.D. |
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Contact Us © 1995-2008 AAMC Terms and Conditions Privacy Statement |
As we pay tribute this year to the AAMC's 125th anniversary, we're
also celebrating a major milestone for one of the association's
pioneering programs - the 25th birthday of our Women in Medicine
program.