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Peter Pang, MD Awarded #HeforShe at Women in Medicine Virtual Summit  

portrait of peter pang

Peter Pang, MD

Written by: Jaclyn H. Jansen, MD, MS & Julie L. Welch, MD

 

The Department of Emergency Medicine congratulates Peter Pang, MD, on earning the #HeforShe Award at the Women in Medicine virtual summit hosted on October 9 and 10. October was a month of celebration for Dr. Pang, as he received this award shortly after being named permanent chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Pang was nominated for this award in recognition of his outstanding support of the department’s female faculty and learners and for his actions while serving as interim chair. The #HeforShe Award is awarded to an individual who has “made significant contributions to improve the careers of women physicians.” These contributions include championing the advancement of women to leadership positions, advocating on gender pay and equity, mentorship or sponsorship resulting in academic promotion of women, and advancing knowledge on salient issues such as gender equity and work-life integration. Dr. Pang demonstrated each of these attributes in his time as interim chair.

Here's an excerpt from his nomination packet:

“Dr. Pang stepped into a role as the leader of nearly 200 faculty, 73 residents, and 10 fellows across 3 academic and 7 community sites. Although gender representation among faculty and residents was reflective of national trends, our departmental leadership positions were disproportionately held by men. Dr. Pang recognized this and supported a structured approach to promote gender equity in recruitment and hiring practices, ensuring that women are represented in the applicant pool and on selection committees. He also supported a broad diversity plan including unconscious bias training for our learners and faculty to ensure best practices are employed. As a result, in 2020, Dr. Pang appointed 3 women to Vice Chair Roles, where zero currently existed. He selected 2 women to serve as assistant residency program directors, hired 5 female and 3 male faculty, and worked to recruit 4 female and 3 male fellows.

Dr. Pang has committed departmental resources to our EM Women’s Mentoring Program, which has been in existence since 2004. He championed faculty development efforts to create mentorship opportunities for our female faculty and learners, including the all-female speaker line up for our Visiting Professor Series in 2020. He has supported our departmental Promotion and Tenure (P&T) Committee efforts to target high-potential women faculty for promotion and advancement in rank, resulting in four women submitting their dossiers for promotion this year. In 2020, Dr. Pang nominated four female faculty members to attend the IU Kelley School of Business Physician Leadership in Business Acumen Program.

We thank Dr. Pang for his efforts and look forward to a bright future under his leadership for both the women and men of Indiana University Emergency Medicine. Congratulations Dr. Pang!