Indiana University's Emergency Medicine Department is thrilled to introduce our visiting professors for the 2020-2021 academic year. Our series of lectures will include:
- Maggie Samuels-Kalow,MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics Harvard Medical School
- Emily MacNeill, MD, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine Carolinas Medical Center
- Eugenia South, MD, MSPH, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine University of Pennsylvania
- Elizabeth Samuels, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine Alpert Medical School of Brown University
- Kamal Bajaj, MD, MS-PHEd, Clinical Director of The Simulation Center and Associate Director of the Simulation Fellowship NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, Associate Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women's Health Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
- Marianne Gausche-Hill, MD, Vice Chair and Chief of the Division, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Pediatrics David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
These women have made significant contributions to the world of medicine, and specifically, the emergency medicine community. While we celebrate these women and the strides female physicians have made in academia and leadership, it is important to note disparities still exist between sexes. The IUEM Women's Group shares some history for women in medicine.
Some history on women in medicine:
Elizabeth Blackwell, MD (1821-1910) was the first female admitted to medical school. After rejections from 29 different schools, Dr. Blackwell's application was received at Geneva Medical College in New York. The dean of the medical was a family friend and as such was uncomfortable outrightly rejecting Dr.Blackwell. Instead, the all-male student body was asked to vote on her admission. Believing this vote was a practical joke, the student body ultimately approved her admission. After becoming the first fully accredited female doctor, Blackwell opened a full-scale hospital, New York Infirmary for Women and Children, in 1857. She went on to found the Women's Medical College at the Infirmary. Dr. Blackwell served her community practicing medicine for over 40 years and died an inspiration to other future female physicians.
Patsy Mink (1927-2020) served as the first Asian Congresswoman in 1965. After rejection from more than 20 medical schools, mink decided to change the law instead. She attended the University of Chicago's Law School and was subsequently elected to Congress. Mink co-authored The Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act 1972 which prohibited federally funded institutions of higher education from discriminating against women in the admissions process. Prior to Mink's work, only nine percent of accepted medical school applicants were female.
How we've grown and where we are today in the US:
There has been as steady increase in the number of women in medicine both as medical school applicants and as faculty. According to national AAMC reports females comprise 51% of medical school applicants, 46% of residents, 41% of faculty, 25% of full professors, 34% of senior associate deans, 18% of department chairs and 18% of deans. In emergency medicine, women representation is less than the national average at 38% of residents, 32% of faculty, 15% of full professors, and 10% of chairs. Emergency medicine lands in the top 10 specialties for females resident representation along with internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, OB/GYN, psychiatry, surgery, anesthesiology, and pathology.
How does IU compare to the norm?
Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine strives to support the recruitment, retention, and advancement of our female learners and faculty. Currently at our academic centers, women make up 40% of residents, 39% of faculty, 43% of assistant professors, 30% of associate professors, 25% of full professors, and 33% of tenured faculty. At our community sites 25% of faculty physicians are female. As we look forward, the DEM has made a commitment to cultivating an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment where all learners and faculty thrive and succeed. Won't you join us?
References:
1.) Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Women in US Academic Medicine and Science Statistics and Benchmarking Report 2013-14.