19 May 2022
Catalysing a more equitable workforce in medicine – Women as One - EuroPCR 2022
Founded in 2019 by Marie-Claude Morice and Roxana Mehran, the mission of Women as One is to promote talent in medicine by providing unique professional opportunities to women physicians.
The gender gap is widening worldwide and the situation is particularly inequitable in healthcare where women make up 70% of the global health workforce, but only hold 25% of leadership roles.1 Indeed, ‘Women deliver global health and men lead it’ was the conclusion of a recent report from the World Health Organization’s Gender Equity Hub, which also found that gender biases, discrimination and inequities are systemic, and disparities are increasing.1
For these reasons and based on their own experiences, Roxana Mehran and Marie-Claude Morice established Women as One. “We aim to fortify the pipeline of women leaders in medicine through novel retention and promotion programmes, and to amplify and unify related global efforts,” Marie-Claude Morice highlights. One of the foundations of the organisation is its Talent Directory, a free-of-charge way of connecting women physicians with career opportunities and learning programmes. The starting focus has been in cardiology, and nearly 1,600 women cardiologists have already joined the Talent Directory, which is continuously mined to find qualified speakers, advisory board members, researchers and more.
In addition, more than $850,000 has been distributed to women cardiologists through the Escalator Awards programme, which provides financial support to women for research and mentorship activities. So far, 26 awards have been distributed with winners not only gaining funding, but also forming a close-knit global support network.
Women as One’s CLIMB skills training programme further seeks to level the playing field in cardiology by growing skill sets and increasing women’s visibility with industry partners. “Women are too often absent from industry-driven activities. These present important opportunities not only to learn, but also to diversify scientific decision making,” comments Roxana Mehran. In total, 113 participants from 41 countries were selected to join CLIMB 2020 and 2021. CLIMB 2022 offers two learning paths: CLIMB Clinical and CLIMB Research. CLIMB Clinical covers four procedural areas while CLIMB Research will focus on fundamental skills training for physicians interested in pursuing clinical research.
CLIMB Research is one of several new initiatives Women as One is developing in the research space. Recognising that the lack of women in research is multi-factorial, several interventions are underway to improve their representation. Training, investigator promotion and women-focused trial services are among the ambitious plans for the organisation this year.
While the start for Women as One has been in cardiology, plans are on the horizon for expansion into additional specialties. Among them is the introduction of RISE, which will take place in New York City in January 2023. A multi-format programme to include a think tank, gala and educational conference, RISE will welcome participants from cardiology, radiology, vascular medicine, vascular surgery and cardiothoracic surgery. The goal is to begin forming consensus across specialties on how to best advance women in medicine and close related gender gaps.
“These initiatives are aimed at increasing the speed at which women in medicine are resourced and positioned for leadership development. When women are put in a position to succeed, everyone succeeds,” concludes Marie-Claude Morice.
To learn more about Women as One and its initiatives, visit www.womenasone.org
References
Authors
