BUILDING NEW PATHWAYS:
U OF L’S WOMEN IN MEDICINE
AND SCIENCE GROUP
Monalisa Tailor, MD
T
oday, in 2015, we are almost 100 years
beyond the woman’s suffrage movement. We have welcomed a female
presidential candidate with a viable chance
for the presidency. We have welcomed women as CEOs for major companies. We will
welcome a female to the $10 bill. Locally, we
have welcomed our first female dean, Dr. Toni
Ganzel, who serves as a strong leader for the
University of Louisville School of Medicine. It would have been hard
to imagine Dr. Ganzel as the dean a mere 30 years ago.
If you watch pictures of the graduating classes on the televisions at
the entrance to the Medical School, you will notice a trend. Over the
past 100 years, the classes have become increasingly diverse. Today’s
medical school class is split almost evenly between female and male
students. This is our new reality as female physicians and faculty. Yet
women continue to face unique struggles within our professional
and personal lives. As Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook, outlined
it in her book Lean In, women just approach job advancement and
their roles differently from men: “We hold ourselves back in ways
both big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our
hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in.”
The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) recognized these challenges and established the Group on Women
in Medicine and Science (GWIMS) to encourage mentoring and
advancement of female faculty at any stage of their careers. This
group was intended to foster community on a national scale.
This year, the dean and faculty of the University of Louisville
16
LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
School of Medicine (ULSOM) have established our own chapter of
the GWIMS, called the Louisville Women in Medicine and Science
(L-WIMS). At our first meeting, intended as a discussion of the
national organization and opportunities available, we discovered
something unexpected. As we went around the room to introduce
ourselves, only a handful of us in the room actually knew each
other! One of our primary goals became obvious after this initial
meeting; we must foster a sense of community and mentorship on
our campus for our own female faculty and staff.
As a new organization, our events have focused on this goal.
We have hosted networking events with ULSOM leaders like Drs.
Toni Ganzel, Ann Shaw, and Kelli Dunn to share their stories with
others. We had the honor of hosting the first female President of
the American Medical Association, Dr. Nancy Dickey, who spoke
with us about the success and challenges of her experience.
In the upcoming weeks, we will have more opportunities for
networking and what we hope will be the start of a new tradition,
an L-WIMS award at Research!Louisville. This is an opportunity to
recognize those researching both clinical and medical education
issues specific to women.
We hope to continue to expand our opportunities and grow.
We also hope you can join us for future events and watch for our
posters at Research!Louisville October 27-30 on the Health Science
Campus. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. Learn
more at http://louisville.edu/medicine/facultyaffairs/l-wims.
Monalisa Tailor, MD, practices Internal Medicine with University
of Louisville Physicians and is an assistant professor in the U of L
Department of Medicine.