The advancement of women in academic medicine

Article Abstract:

The number of female medical graduates has risen dramatically during the last two decades to the point where, in 1989, 38 percent of medical school entering classes, and 33.9 percent of graduates, were women. Data concerning the advancement of women who enter academic medicine, however, have indicated that women do not advance beyond the lower ranks as much as men, and that they do not attain as much scientifically. An article in the October 10, 1990 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that women at one institution (Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons) are promoted at the same rate as men of the same rank, and that the clustering of women at lower levels reflects the fact that women have entered the system more recently. The term ''glass ceiling'' refers to the invisible barriers that impede women's progress in the corporate environment. Does this concept apply to women in academic medicine? The number of women holding top-level academic appointments in the US is small: one medical school dean, 39 basic science department chairwomen, and 47 clinical department chairwomen. Things may improve, but it is important to recognize the real obstacles that exist. These include biases against women and minorities, exemplified by results in two recent studies concerning differential perception of the two sexes. Women bear most of the burden of child rearing and family organization, as well as pressure to accommodate their careers to those of their husbands. Women suffer from sexual stereotyping and the knowledge that men are more comfortable professionally with other men. To maximize the resources that women in medicine represent, effective mentoring by senior faculty is essential. Social solutions to the pressures women feel in relation to career and family choices must be found. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

editorial

---

The status of women at one academic medical center: breaking through the glass ceiling

Article Abstract:

At US medical schools, the proportion of female graduates has steadily increased since 1974, to the point where women made up 34 percent of the 1989 graduating class. However, some reports have found that women are underrepresented in senior positions and that they encounter a ''glass ceiling'' above which they cannot advance. The status of women at academic medical centers was investigated by comparing promotion rates and the proportion of faculty members of both sexes at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York City. Data from clinical and basic science departments were included. Promotions for 278 women and 663 men hired between 1969 and 1988 were tabulated with reference to the academic titles of the individuals involved. Results showed a similar probability of promotion for men and women (0.48 and 0.40, respectively) on the tenure track. The likelihood of promotion for women on the clinical track was 0.75; for men, it was 0.72. At each tenure track level, women were employed in the same proportion as the proportion of women graduating from medical school (when corrected for the average time needed to reach that rank). Women were, however, disproportionately represented on the nontenure clinical track, and they were more likely to have entered each rank more recently than their male counterparts. These findings indicate that, overall, the position of women in academic medicine is improving. Increased awareness of this fact will enhance support for women as they strive to maximize their scientific and clinical contributions in medicine. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

---

Compensation to a department of medicine and its faculty members for the teaching of medical students and house staff

Article Abstract:

Medical center faculty members may not be sufficiently reimbursed for their teaching efforts and cost-reducing changes in health care may threaten such teaching. Researchers analyzed time spent on various teaching activities by 188 full-time faculty members in the Department of Medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. The total time spent teaching was 46,086 hours, with an average of 245 hours spent by each faculty member. Women, senior faculty members, and physicians in Infectious Disease, Nephrology, and Pulmonary divisions tended to spend more time teaching than other faculty members. The total amount of money spent on teaching by the department was $965,808, or approximately $16 per hour of teaching, when fringe benefit costs were subtracted. However, the faculty was not paid for their time teaching as their salaries were not supported by the department. Rather, teaching was considered a service required by faculty.

Human resource management, Medical centers, Compensation and benefits, Medical school faculty, Hospitals, Teaching, Teaching hospitals, Medical teaching personnel

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Management of advanced glottic carcinomas. Comparison of surgery and radiotherapy in T1 and T2 glottic carcinomas
• Abstracts: Management of tubal infertility in the 1990s. The results of tubal surgery in the treatment of infertility in two non-specialist hospitals
• Abstracts: A study of cyproheptadine in the treatment of metastatic carcinoid tumor and the malignant carcinoid syndrome
• Abstracts: The effect of a 7-day delay in chemotherapy cycles on complete response and event-free survival in good-risk disseminated germ cell tumor patients
• Abstracts: EORTC protocol 30853: orchidectomy versus zoladex plus flutamide in the management of metastatic carcinoma of the prostate

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.