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Check out the June 2011 edition of AMWA Student NewsFlash!
AMWA Student NewsFlash
June 2011
Inside this issue...


Announcements

New look and content on the AMWA Student website! Check it out!  Learn exactly why AMWA continues to be relevant, get in touch with leadership, apply for awards and scholarships, and take advantage of AMWA opportunties for you or your branch!

Futures Without Violence is planning its biannual conference in San Francisco, CA on March 29-31, 2012.  Proposals are currently being accepted at http://www.nchdv.org until June 24, 2011.  There will be a pre-conference event on March 28 for health professional students, and travel scholarships will be available.

American Society of Plastic Surgeons invites AMWA members to attend their conference Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011 in Denver, CO. Register before Aug. 31 and attend for free. See http://www.plasticsurgery.org/for-Medical-Professionals/Resources-and-Education/Meetings/Plastic-Surgery-2011.html for more information, and contact Lauren Wolchok at secretary@amwa-student.org for registration materials.

Becoming a member of National AMWA is easy and comes with tons of benefits.

Please continue to send financial questions and concerns to Kam Lam (awards@amwa-student.org) so that she can forward them to our financial expert Stephen Dunbar to answer in upcoming editions of AMWA Student NewsFlash.

Calling all branch presidents - we hope that you'll forward these AMWA Student NewsFlash newsletters to your local branch members monthly. Thanks for your help with spreading the AMWA love far and wide!


Letter from the Editor

Lauren Wolchok, National Secretary
Secretary@amwa-student.org



As the school year winds down and we slide into summer, the national and regional leaders of AMWA are busy contacting local branches, recruiting new members, preparing for truly powerful programming, and even planning conferences because we want to hit the ground running in the fall, supporting and inspiring women students.  We’re excited to keep you in the loop with our schemes and dreams and timely announcements for special opportunities (conferences!) that await you in the coming months.  And, as always, please do keep the emails coming – I’m honored to help promote your region, your branch, and you.  I'm always thrilled to share your awesomeness and your inquiries with our AMWA community!

Improving The Healthcare System, One Physician At A Time… Introducing: Expediting The Inevitable

—New Organization Launches with a Humble Goal: “To Revolutionize the
Healthcare System by Better Engaging Women Physicians”—



Women in medicine continue to face challenges - more subtle than those faced by early female doctors, but still very real.  Striking differences between male and female physicians continue to exist in areas such as salary, choice of specialty, and research grant funding.  Even with important factors such as location, specialty choice, and work hours controlled for, female physicians entering medical practice after residency training now earn almost $17,000 less per year than their male counterparts, with the reasons for the pay differential unclear.  Disparities are also evident in the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in academic medicine and the basic sciences, as well as in the percentage of females who rise to executive levels in medical institutions.   
 
Linda Brodsky, past chair of the AMWA Gender Equity Task Force, has just founded a new organization called Expediting the Inevitable, which is aimed at helping women in medicine confront the subtle challenges present in workplace and institutional environments.  
 
“The need to update outdated gender practices in the healthcare system is as much a business issue as it is a social one,” said Dr. Brodsky. “ETI’s goal is to work with these organizations, institutions, and the physicians who serve them to bring them up to speed with the needs of their workforces and patients, and to do it quickly.”
 
Dr. Brodsky was inspired to effect change in the healthcare system after having spent almost a decade as a litigant in several gender discrimination lawsuits. The case was resolved to the satisfaction of all parties, but the issues that motivated the case still widely persist and need to be addressed. 

 

Expediting the Inevitable’s goals of assisting women physicians in gaining on-the-job flexibility by promoting at-work collaboration and co-adaptation and educating the general public on the deleterious effects of residual gender policies to their own health make it a resource of particular interest to AMWA members.  
 
We encourage AMWA student members to peruse the excellent reading list compiled by Expediting the Inevitable, at http://expeditingtheinevitable.com/resources/read-get-up-to-speed/.  
Spotlight On... Albany Medical College
 Preethi Raghu, Region 2 Director

Albany Medical College from Region 2 is being spotlighted this month for their phenomenal member events!  They held an elegant "Women in Medicine" dinner panel featuring female physicians of various ages, career paths, and specialties (ranging from urology to orthopedic surgery to pediatrics).  Their candid insight into the life of a female physician was extremely beneficial for AMC AMWA members.  From dating in medical school to balancing family priorities, they offered many perspectives to common challenges.

In addition, AMC AMWA recently held a viewing of the 12th and Delaware documentary with a speaker from Planned Parenthood.  12th and Delaware is an incredible showcase of the controversies surrounding abortion -- within a single neighborhood.  The documentary and speaker stimulated discussion of these bioethical topics and what bearing the new reforms will have.

     
Continue Your AMWA Membership as a Resident
Message from Student AMWA's Residency Division Reps
Joana Ochoa and Tara Renna, Interdivisional Communications Co-Chairs / Residency Division

CONGRATULATIONS to all the 4th year medical students who just graduated. This is an exciting time as you transition from being a student to being a physician, and we hope that you will also choose to continue your journey with AMWA. The residency division, continues to expand the benefits it offers its members and we want YOU to be a part of this growth. Whether it be through a leadership position, as a mentor to medical students, or as a resident member we value your insight and unique experiences in medicine. We want to hear from YOU!!! 
 
JOIN TODAY!!! (One low fee and your membership is valid for as long as you are a resident)
 
Please visit the AMWA Residents page and feel free to email at residency@amwa-student.org.

AMWA Accolades

We recognize and congratulate the amazing accomplishments of these AMWA members and branches across the country, and we'd love to share yours!  Email AMWA Secretary Lauren Wolchok at secretary@amwa-student.org to be included.
  • Alexandra Iacob and Gabriella Snow of the University of Texas Health Science, Houston and San Antonio, respectively, are stepping up as student representatives to national physician AMWA's membership committee and will be working to find ways to incentivize and attract new members to our organization.
  • Nupur Agrawal, of the University of Texas Health Science in San Antonio, will be working with representatives from AMSA (American Medical Student Association) to coordinate the Women's Empowerment Symposium (WES) planned for fall.  We're thrilled that she is taking on this important role and will have more details on WES soon.
  • Congratulations to all of our graduating seniors!
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