Meetings

Dare to Lead: The Unique Challenges Experienced by Women Program Directors

Webinar (Open)

There is a well-recognized leadership gap for women in medicine at the highest levels of leadership. According to the 2023 APDIM annual survey, 48.1% of program directors identify as women. Even though there seems to be near gender parity in program director roles, women program directors may face unique challenges associated with women in leadership positions in addition to known challenges like pay disparity, lack of sponsorship, and implicit and explicit bias.

Many responsibilities of the program director align with “office housework” like mentoring, committee work, or DEI work which lead to more non-promotable but important work where women PDs feel challenged to say no. Other tasks like negotiating for budgets and resources or making difficult decisions like cutting FTE or separating with residents can force women program directors to walk the likability-competency tightrope.

The average tenure of the program director role is from 4-7 years, with women averaging closer to four years. One study suggests the high rate of turnover was associated with increased administrative workload, opportunities for career advancement to other roles, constant change management, and burnout. The presenters hypothesize that women, who may experience microaggressions from superiors, peers, and residents, may feel heightening of these stressors which may influence early attrition from the role.  Some of these challenges may be further compounded when women have intersecting identities such as being underrepresented in medicine.

This webinar will review strategies for successful negotiation techniques for women program directors and will brainstorm ways to amplify the voices of women and colleagues who are underrepresented in medicine as well as identify potential allies at one’s home institution to promote belonging. 

Presented by:
Alia Chisty, MD
Sarita Soares, MD
Rebecca Berman, MD
Leah Ross, MD

Words Matter! Practical Tips on Using and Teaching Patient-Centered Language for Educators

Webinar (Open)

Ensuring that learners have the skills to compose effective clinical documentation is a core responsibility of all medical educators. There is a robust literature describing that the language used in medical documentation has the power to transmit conscious and unconscious biases and impact patient care. Stigmatizing language is widespread in inpatient medical documentation and is more likely to be found in the medical records of patients who are black, have public insurance, and who have certain stigmatized conditions such as substance use disorders.

When documentation contains stigmatizing language, it impacts readers’ attitudes and behaviors towards patients. Many clinician educators do not have a toolbox for identifying and modifying potentially problematic language in their documentation or training others to do so. In this webinar, presenters will provide a foundation in best practices for using patient centered language and practical tools for coaching learners in these skills.

Presented by:
Julia Caton, MD, EdM
Rebecca Dougherty, MD, MSEd

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