The Changing Face of Academic Medicine

In an article from Med Center Today, Academic Medicine has been dominated by males across all specialties, however more women are entering in to the academic medicine setting. Women entering in to a male dominated territory run across obstacles in addition to the normal competitive nature of jobs in academic medicine.

It will take a combination of top-level leadership and females taking stronger rein over their own career development to help women find their place in academic medicine. Academic institutions are already competitive, although women may be a minority it is important for these programs to become more diverse and create more women mentors for new students entering training.

According to the AAMC, as of 2003, women represented 50% of first-year medical students, 41% of all residents and 30% of all faculty members. However there is a significant shortage of women in leadership roles in academic centers.

There is also an interesting article from JNS documenting women in and entering in to Neurosurgery. Read the full article by clicking here: http://thejns.org/doi/full/10.3171/JNS/2008/109/9/0378. Neurosurgery, like most surgery and specialties, is also largely dominated by men. However more women Neurosurgeons are entering in to the marketplace which creates more women mentors for new medical students selecting their specialties and even deciding to enter in to medical school.

Given the complexity of the challenge, medical schools are implementing a number of initiatives to raise the profile of women, including extending the timeline for gaining tenure and advancing to full professorship, and exploring policies for part-time faculty. There also are a number of steps women can take to enhance their own careers and help build a climate that encourages other women to pursue and stay in academic medicine.


Read the full article in Med Center Today, or click here:
http://www.medcentertoday.com/article.php?id=55&chapter_id=16&PHPSESSID=o43oa6516ph8i36khum81tugv0