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Women in Medicine Month: Women as Medical Educators

Women as Medical Educators

The AAMC Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS) is proud to celebrate Women in Medicine Month! Each week in the month of September we will feature spotlights and leadership lessons from women in physician, scientist, educator, and leadership roles. This week's theme is women as medical educators.

Women as Medical Educators Spotlight

Mary Chiaruttini Boyle, MD

“Women are here, present, and have always been ready to participate, serve, and bring a holistic perspective to medicine. Honoring our voices in medical education and recognizing our mentorship and teaching of those entering this noble profession elevates the joy of practicing medicine for all and, most importantly, touches and improves the lives of our patients in previously unrecognized and meaningful ways.”

Mary Chiaruttini Boyle, MD
Assistant Dean for Clinical Formation
Course Director Patient Centered Medicine 2
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine    
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

Melissa A. Carroll PhD, MS

“As women, we often provide invisible care acts (emotional mentoring and advising) to our students while balancing our own feelings of imbalance, burnout, and impostorism. We can also sit between that intersection of being underrepresented and feeling undervalued.  However, in our persistence and perseverance is where we show our strength.  Our desire to make the path wider for those that come behind us is a testament to breaking a cycle of negativity.  The academy can be a trial by fire, but it can also be an intellectual breeding ground for rich collaborations and a push towards excellence.”

Melissa A. Carroll PhD, MS
Associate Professor    
The George Washington University, School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Débora H. Silva Díaz

“As a Puerto Rican woman, a physician, and a medical educator, I believe in the importance of mentoring and education. Mentors help us find our voice, while education is the door to better health and better healthcare. Women physicians must come together in this crucial time in history to be mentors and educators of the coming generations with an open mind and a clear purpose: to advance underrepresented in medicine physicians in academic medicine leadership positions. I am convinced this is the only way we will achieve equitable healthcare for all.”

Débora H. Silva Díaz
Interim Dean for Academic Affairs
University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine

Shirley “Lee” Eisner, PhD

“Women biomedical science and clinician educators are leading the way in academic medicine to respond, recover and re-imagine during the current transformation of medical education. We are re-inventing ourselves and how we do our work despite facing challenges to gender equity in our professional life. Respectful collaboration with all our colleagues across the country is our hallmark skill to achieve this success. We must embrace this strength to amplify our voices, get support from our institutions and serve as role models to our physicians-in-training to encourage future medical educators.”

Shirley “Lee” Eisner, PhD
Associate Professor of Cell Biology
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine

Theresa Kristopaitis, MD

“The opportunity to learn from and collaborate with so many talented women physicians, residents and students on a daily basis is an absolutely extraordinary opportunity.”

Theresa Kristopaitis, MD
Associate Dean for Curricular Integration
Chair - Central Curricular Authority
Course Director Mechanism of Human Disease
Professor of Medicine
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

Shou-Ling Leong, MD

“To meet its social mission, medical schools need to commit to the training of a diverse workforce, which will improve patient outcomes for our diverse population. "A rising tide lifts all boats" is true only if we intentionally implement programs, curricula and policies that are equitable and inclusive of historically underrepresented and marginalized groups. Otherwise, the rising tide will lift just the super yachts. Let us advocate for gender and racial equity and dismantle bias and microaggression.  Collectively, our influence and power will create a culture enabling all to succeed.”

Shou-Ling Leong, MD
Assistant Dean for Pathways Innovation
Professor and Associate Vice Chair for Education for Family and Community Medicine
Penn State College of Medicine

GWIM Resources

The GWIMS Toolkit is a series of presentations designed to provide practical guidance on a variety of topics relevant to women faculty in academic medicine. Each presentation provides an overview of the topic, relevant best practices, tips on implementation, and useful references for more information.

GWIMS Toolkits are useful resources that will help advance women in leadership roles.

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