Current News & Events
Save the Date!
2010 AWS Fall Conference - October 3-5, 2010 in Washington, DC
Click here for a Sponsor & Exhibitor Kit.
AWS Foundation Visiting Professor Program
If you are interested in representing the AWS Foundation as a Visiting Professor, please complete this application and return it to the AWS Foundation Office. Applications must be submitted electronically as one PDF document to Info@WomenSurgeons.org by April 10, 2010. Selection will be made by May 1, 2010. The application process is open to full members of the Association of Women Surgeons in good standing and in active practice in the United States or Canada.
Women in Surgery Symposium - Postponed
The Women in Surgery Symposium, sponsored by Covidien, which will be held in Columbia, MD (midway between DC and Baltimore) has been postponed until June 2010, based on scheduling challenges. More details will be sent closer to the date.
AAMC Statistics
The most recent report from AAMC shows that women
residents in surgery have reached a critical mass at 32%. Faculty are still
lagging behind at 19% overall, with 8% of full professors being women.
The full report is available on the AAMC Website:
http://www.aamc.org/members/gwims/statistics/stats09/start.htm
Medical Student and Resident Poster Competition
The 2009 Medical Student winner was
Stephanie Chang.
Click here for a copy of the winning poster.
The 2009 Resident Winner was Dr. Jennifer Steiman. Click
here to view the winning poster.
Click here for more information on this competition.
Congratulations to 2009 Award Winners
The Association of Women Surgeons held their annual Awards Dinner at Everest Restaurant on October 12, 2009. With over 100 people in attendance, Dr. AJ Copeland presented the awards to nine recipients for their professional achievements.
The Association's most prestigious award, the Nina
Starr Braunwald Award, was presented to Susan Miller Briggs, MD, MPH,
FACS of Harvard Medical School, for her work with the association and
leadership in advancing women in surgery.
The Olga Jonasson Distinguished Member Award is given to an AWS
member surgeon who exemplifies the ideals and mission of the association.
This year's award was presented to Kimberly Ephgrave, MD, FACS of
University of Iowa.
Renamed in 2007 in honor of Claude Organ, MD, FACS, the Claude Organ
Honorary Member Award is given to an individual who is supportive of the
goals of the association. This year's award was presented to John Davis,
MD, Emeritus Professor of Surgery of University of Vermont and Carlos
Pellegrini, MD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, University of
Washington.
The 2009 Outstanding Woman Resident Award is given to a resident who
demonstrates potential as a future leader in surgery. This year we have a
number of female residents who received this award, they include: Nancy
Cho, MD -- Brigham & Women's Hospital; Lesly Dossett, MD --
Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Traci Hedrick, MD -- University
of Virginia; Amy Vertrees, MD -- Walter Reed Army Medical Center; and
Jennifer Waljee, MD -- University of Michigan.
The Patricia Numann, MD, FACS Medical Student Award was established
to encourage and support female medical students pursuing a career in
surgery. The winner is chosen based on her expressed interest in surgery,
potential leadership qualities or research contributions to the field of
surgery and recommendations. The 2009 recipient is Juliet Emamaulee -
University of Alberta.
Mentorship of Women in Academic Surgery
Click here for a copy of the recent article: "Mentorship program designed to advance women in academic surgery" (Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons - October 2009; Vol 94, Num 10)
Congratulations to 2010 Fellowship Grant Winners
The 2010 AWSF/Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. and
AWSF/Genomic Health Fellowship Grant Winners have been announced.
Since 1996, the AWSF/Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. Fellowship
has supported a number of women surgeons by funding original
research in topics of flexible GI endoscopy, laparoscopy, minimal
access techniques or related emerging technology. The 2010 winner is
Jacqueline S. Jeruss, MD, PhD, of Northwestern University,
whose chosen research topic is “Novel Cell Array to Determine Impact
of CDK Inhibition on SMAD Signaling in Cyclin Overexpressing Breast
Cancer.”
A $25,000 Fellowship grant from Genomic Health was
established in 2007. The fellowship is awarded for topics in the
area of cancer-related research. Nanette R. Reed, MD, of Mayo
Clinic, received the 2010 Fellowship. Her research topic is an
“Analysis of Local Genomic Alterations in Bronchioloalveolar
Carcinoma and Implications for the Adenocarcinoma Progression
Model.”
Congratulations to both winners and thanks to the generous corporate
sponsorship of Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. and Genomic Health for
their continuing support of women surgeons and such important
research.
The call for 2011 Fellowships will be posted in March 2010. Click here for a list of past winners.
General Surgery News Special Report
A
Special Report was published in the October 2008 issue of General
Surgery News. Supported by a grant from Covidien, the report has some
interesting statistics on the role of women in surgery.
Download a copy here: Critical Mass - With the Stakes High, Women May Assume Crucial Role in Surgery's Future
The World Economic Forum recently released a report
with some interesting data on closing the Gender Gap. Most European
countries are way above the USA (#26).
Click here for a copy:
The Global Gender Gap Report
Physician Spouse Network and Resources from AWS
Research shows that physicians consider their most
toxic stressor is the struggle with work/family balance and its effect
on home life. In fact, research shows that even in dual-doctor
families, female physicians are still more likely to make sacrifices
in their career for family. The AMA Alliance is a nationwide network
of physician spouses and physicians, resident physicians, medical
students and their spouses that recognizes this additional need for
resources and provides this advantage for members.
Alliance members help each other obtain the opportunities they want
for the physician(s) in their family, reach work/life balance in their
medical family, connect with each other when transitioning through
practice changes and moving to a new state or community. Together,
they comprise a link between medical families, a resource for finding
work/life balance at every stage of the medical career, which is so
crucial to physician well-being.
Many physician spouses have busy careers of their own, whether in
health care, education, business or the law and yet want to do what
they can to support the practice in their family. The Alliance offers
a convenient avenue for involvement at a time and pace suited to each
member, their interests and their community’s needs, including ways to
be actively involved from the comfort of an Internet connection and
resources that can be downloaded and easily shared.
Alliance members advocate for physicians, working toward shared
objectives for fair reimbursement from publicly funded health care
programs, tort reform caps in the state and access to care. They act
together to promote Internet safety for children, violence prevention
in our schools, healthy eating and exercise and health education
resources. They raise funds for medical scholarships, free clinics and
disaster response.
Members of the AWS are encouraged to invite their spouses to join the
Alliance and take advantage of its resources.
We are providing a link to this organization on the AWS site to give
all AWS members easy access to the resources provided by the AMA
Alliance for spouses, community action, public health information and
advocacy. We have secured an affordable introductory first-time
membership for AWS members and spouses: $25 to join, $40 for physician
and spouse together. Visit the Alliance and join. www.amaalliance.org
AAHPM Announces Selection of Training Sites
The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
announces selection of the eight training sites that will host its
Clinical Scholars Program beginning in 2008. The program provides
physicians one week of participation with a clinical team, under the
supervision of physician faculty at the training site. The sites were
chosen based on their outstanding reputation, superior service, and
well regarded expertise in the field.
For further information on this program, visit
www.aahpm.org/education/clinicaltraining.html.
Women Surgeons - Cutting New Paths
On November 13, 2006 a group of AWS members
participated in a panel presentation at Radcliffe Institute in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. The topic - "Women Surgeons - Cutting New
Paths."
The panel included Myriam Curet, MD, FACS, Julie Freischlag, MD, FACS,
Verna Gibbs, MD, FACS, Margaret Kemeny, MD, FACS and Patricia Numann,
MD, FACS.
If you would like to hear the presentation follow this link to the
Radcliffe Institute Website.
http://www.radcliffe.edu/events/paneldiscussions/2006_surgeons.php
Gaining Force
The Association of American Medical Colleges
published an analysis of women in academic medicine, reporting that
for 2005-06, women represented:
50% of applicants to medical school
48% of first-year students
49% of medical students
49% of graduating medical students
42% of residents and fellows
32% of medical faculty members
38% of assistant professors
28% of associate professors
16% of full professors
19% of division/section chiefs
10% of department chairs
43% of assistant deans
31% of associate and senior associate/vice deans
11% of medical school deans