Women in Medicine Celebrating Our Past Present and Future

AMA Women Physicians Congress Women in Medicine Celebrating Our Past, Present and Future AMA Women Physicians Congress Pathways to progress : A quarter-century for the AMA Women in Medicine Program Women in Medicine -- Where are we now? • 25.2% of US physicians are female • 49% of medical school applicants are female • 10 deans of US medical schools are female • Women physician are in leadership positions throughout the profession and organized medicine 2002, AMA, AAMC AMA Women Physicians Congress A Profile of Women in Medicine Today • More than 62% of female physicians are in 6 specialties: Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Family Practice, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Psychiatry, and Anesthesiology • Female physicians represent about 23% of physicians in Medical Teaching, 16% in Administration, and 18% in Research • 60% of women physicians are under 45 years of age; 40% are 45 or older. Physicians Characteristics and Distribution in the US, 2004 Edition, American Medical Association AMA Women Physicians Congress The major growth in the number of women in medicine has occurred over the past four decades. Number/Percent of Physicians 1970 1980 1990 2000 MALE 308,627 413,395 511,227 618,233 92.4% 88.4% 83.1% 76.0% FEMALE 25,401 7.6% 54,284 11.6% 104,194 16.9% 195,537 24.0% AMA Women Physicians Congress Women physicians today are our Colleagues Mentors Role Models Teachers Leaders Women physicians are represented throughout medicine. But it wasn’t always this way. AMA Women Physicians Congress The progress of women in medicine is a long and continuing journey… There are many pioneering women physicians to thank; Many accomplishments to celebrate AMA Women Physicians Congress Women in Medicine -- A History 1847 Harriet Hunt is the first woman to apply to Harvard Medical School. Her application is rejected. 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to receive a US medical degree, from Geneva Medical College in New York. AMA Women Physicians Congress 1864 Rebecca Lee Crumpler, MD becomes the first African-American woman to receive an MD. 1866 Ann Preston, MD, is appointed the first female dean of the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. 1868 Elizabeth Blackwell, MD establishes the Women’s Medical College, affiliated with her New York Infirmary. AMA Women Physicians Congress 1870 University of Michigan becomes the first state medical school to formally admit women. 1876 Sarah Hackett Stevenson, MD is admitted as the first female member of the AMA. 1886 Mary Harris Thompson, MD, founder of the (Chicago) Hospital for Women and Children, later named in her honor, is the first woman to present a scientific paper at an AMA Annual Meeting and the first woman to be published in JAMA. AMA Women Physicians Congress 1889 Susan La Flesche Picotte, MD graduates and becomes the first Native American woman to receive a medical degree in the US. 1897 Eliza Ann Grier, MD, an emancipated slave, becomes the first African American woman licensed to practice medicine in Georgia. AMA Women Physicians Congress By the beginning of the 20th century, the number of women physicians in the US had increased to more than 7,000, up from about 200 in 1860. Nevertheless, women remained a minority in medicine throughout the 1900s, and the number and percentage of women was up and down... 4% of graduates in 1905 12% in 1949 7% in 1965. AMA Women Physicians Congress 1915 The Medical Women’s National Association (now known as the American Medical Women’s Association) is founded by Bertha Van Hoosen, MD. 1919 Alice Conklin, MD serves as a delegate from the Illinois State Medical Society, the first female after the 1901 formation of the AMA House of Delegates. AMA Women Physicians Congress 1943 Margaret Craighill, MD becomes the first woman physician to join the US Military. the first time. 1945 Harvard Medical School admits women for 1947Gerty Cori, MD is the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sharing the prize with her husband, also an MD. AMA Women Physicians Congress 1952 Virginia Apgar, MD, the first woman full professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, develops the Apgar Score, the first standardized test used to evaluate newborns. 1960 Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA is the last medical school to admit female students. 1969 Louise C. Gloeckner, MD, of Pennsylvania, is elected AMA vice president, becoming the highest ranking woman physician in the organization to date. AMA Women Physicians Congress In 1970, women still were underrepresented considerably in the medical profession, just under 8% of US physicians. But the percentage of female physicians was beginning its steady increase. Ten years later, women represented nearly 12% of US physicians. And the percentage of medical graduates who were women nearly tripled between 1970-1980. AMA Women Physicians Congress 1979 AMA establishes the ad hoc Committee on Women Physicians to encourage the membership and participation of women physicians throughout organized medicine. 1989 Nancy Dickey, MD is the first women to be elected to the AMA Board of Trustees. 1990 Antonia Novello, MD becomes the first woman and first Hispanic to be appointed US Surgeon General. AMA Women Physicians Congress The 1990s saw a dramatic increase in the influence and activism of women physicians. • The AMA September Women in Medicine Month campaign was launched as a national effort. • AMA issued its ground-breaking report on “Gender Disparities in Clinical Decision Making.” • The AMA adopted policy reports, authored by the WIM Advisory Panel, on maternity leave, child care, sexual harassment, parental leave, gender neutral language and other issues critical to women in medicine. AMA Women Physicians Congress In the 1990’s… The annual AMA Women Physician Leaders Summits began. AMWA was admitted to the AMA House of Delegates. Diana Dell, MD was seated as its first delegate. In 1998, Nancy Dickey, MD was inaugurated as the first female president of the AMA. The AMA Women Physicians Congress is established by the House of Delegates, a membership-based advocacy forum dedicated to WIM issues. AMA Women Physicians Congress 2000 AMA elects Nancy Nielsen, MD as the first female vice-speaker of the House of Delegates. 2003 Dr. Nielsen is elected speaker, the first woman to hold that AMA position. 2004 The 25th Anniversary of the AMA Women in Medicine Program. AMA Women Physicians Congress The number of women physicians continues to rise; 25.2% of US physicians were female by 2002. The percentage of female medical school applicants reached an all time high of 49.2 in the 2002-2003 school year. Does the glass ceiling still exist? Medical School Faculty Men Women 31% 10.7% 24.24% 19.3% 35.9% 50.1% 7.8% 17.5% 0.9% 2.4% Professor Associate Professor Assistant Professor Instructor Other Association of American Medical Colleges Women in US Academic Medicine Statistics 2000. AMA Women Physicians Congress Become a member today! The goals of the WPC are to: • Increase the number of women physicians in leadership positions. • Provide a forum for mentoring and networking. • Advance the understanding of sex- & gender-based difference in health. AMA Women Physicians Congress goals continued. . . • Monitor trends and emerging issues affecting women in the profession. • Increase the membership/participation of women in organized medicine. • Enhance professional options for balancing personal/career responsibilities. Membership is free & open to all interested physicians and medical students. Email wpc@ama-assn.org to join. AMA Women Physicians Congress Here’s what the WPC does for you! • Serves as a forum for advocacy on women’s health issues. • Identifies and addresses your issues throughout the life cycle. • Sponsors events like September Women and Medicine Month & Women Physician Leaders Summits. AMA Women Physicians Congress continued. . . • Distributes timely and relevant information to its members. • Provides leadership opportunities for the members of the WPC. • Strengthens the number and influence of women in organized medicine. This presentation was compiled by the American Medical Association (AMA) Women Physicians Congress (WPC) and the AMA Archives in Recognition of the 25th Year of the AMA Women in Medicine Program June 2004 www.ama-assn.org/go/wpc