Women in Medicine

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• Meeting Room Set Requirements
• Bio Panel
• The Great (?) Debate: Gender vs. Generation by Gary L. Freed, MD, MPH
• Biological and Sociological reasons why---the answer is gender by Alison Holmes, MD, MPH
• KATONA BIO
• One is Silver and the Other Gold: Unsolicited Reflections on PAS 2008
• Has documented that he has no relevant financial relationships to disclose or COIs to resolve. by Surendra K. Varma, M.D.
• Is Work Life Balance a Gender Issue? by Joseph Zenel MD

PAS 2008

Once again the Women in Medicine Special Interest Group presented lively discussions about 2 challenging issues. The topics were selected based on issues raised during PAS 2007 Women in Medicine SIG, had been submitted as potential PAS workshops but had not been accepted. In a true aloha spirit, Berkowitz presented each of the presenters with a lei.

The first part of the program was devoted to a debate entitled: Resolved: Work-Life Balance is a Generational, Not a Gender Issue .The debaters included: Gary Freed and Sandra Hassink arguing in favor of the resolution, that the issue was generational and not gender–based, and Alison Holmes and Joe Zenel arguing against, that gender rather than generation was the prevailing concern. Their presentations are available on the APA website. Humor prevailed as in previous debates, and neither side could claim victory.

The second part of the program included a panel discussion entitled: Succeeding in Academia: The Challenge of Being an IMG: Are there Gender Differences? Discussants included Surendra Varma, Latha Chandran and Doug Jones. A recurrent theme among the presenters was the challenge that IMGs face when they come to the United States. Chandra noted that programs were loath to accept her for a residency slot and how she finally secured one. Varmacommented that the advice he received from his father was invaluable. In particular, his father told him that if he did well, people would comment that Dr. Varma is an excellent physician.

If he did not do well, people would say that Indian physicians could not be depended upon. Jones highlighted the need to judge people individually and not form preconceived ideas. It was apparent that Drs. Varma and Chandran had worked especially hard to succeed and to be a credit to their native countries. Varma’s Power Point presentation is also posted on the APA website.

There were approximately 40 attendees at the session. The audience included both men and women. During the interval between the debate and the panel discussion, the audience engaged in an appreciative exercise where they meet their neighbor and then introduced their neighbor to the group.

Updated 10/14/08