In an effort to strengthen connections between women in medicine, the Women’s Pre-Health Leadership Society (WPHLS) held their fourth annual conference on April 6. The event included speeches by a variety of renowned female professionals with the theme “Careers in Medicine: Exploring Medical Specialties” as its mission.
“While the gender gap among medical school students has nearly disappeared in recent years, there is still a big disparity among the sexes within different medical specialties. One of the reasons we chose to emphasize surgery at the conference was to show attendees successful women who have come before us, and to instill confidence and belief that it is possible to have it all regardless of the specialty we choose,” junior Maddie Fryer, Programming Co-Chair for WPHLS, wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
For the first time, WPHLS invited students from nearby universities to attend the event.
In addition to Hopkins students, the conference brought in undergraduates from Towson University, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Goucher College and Baltimore City Community College (BCCC).
“I’m in a pre-med society at my university, and our advisor got sent an email about the event. This is my first time at a conference, but it definitely reached my expectations. It was really interesting to get to talk face-to-face with some of the surgeons and trauma specialists, and it was really nice for the students at Hopkins to allow other college students to attend. It was a really great opportunity for us,” UMBC freshman Safa Zahangir said.
The event began with an opening speech by Dr. Patricia Turner, M.D., Director of the Division of Member Services for the American College of Surgeons.
Turner’s presentation covered the importance of organized medicine, generational change and work-life balance.
“You want to be the world’s expert on something, even if it’s the most narrow slice,” Turner said. According to Turner, this will lead to being called on to advise and speak in medical settings more frequently.
Beyond this, she emphasized the importance of forming connections, both in terms of networking and finding mentors. Specifically, she mentioned mentors that have helped start her career in medicine: for instance, one mentor spoke to the issue of the “glass ceiling” in medical careers.
“This notion people have that diversity — in gender, race, ethnicity, et cetera — is an uphill battle is ridiculous. You cannot have excellence without diversity," Dr. Turner said.
After Turner’s speech, participants separated into smaller sections and rotated throughout three panels: Trauma & Emergency Medicine, Surgery & The Operating Room and Chronic Care.
Panelists were asked to speak about their careers, including how they felt in male-dominated fields and what their greatest challenges and rewards have been so far. While pursuing a career in medicine is difficult, speakers stressed the importance of saving time for oneself, friends and family.
A fellow in International Emergency Medicine and Public Health at Hopkins and a clinical instructor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Bhakti Hansoti, M.D., presented in the Trauma & Emergency Medicine panel. She is pursuing a Masters in Public Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
“People get burnt out really easily. We’re working at 150 percent, and you can only do that so much. Make sure you have time to have fun! When you meet someone, they’re not going to remember your C.V. They’re going to remember that ‘quirky’ thing about you: that restaurant recommendation, or that app on your phone. So being well rounded can actually help to propel your career,” Hansoti said.
The conference concluded with a closing presentation by Dr. Miriam Schechter, M.D., an academic general pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, in the Bronx, N.Y.
Titled “Life and Lessons since Lazear,” Schechter’s presentation reflected on her journey from her Hopkins undergrad to her current career.
Schechter completed her speech by giving advice to the conference-goers, from reminding them to listen to patients to advising them to live altruistically.
“I really think that living altruistically is the crux of medicine. I know that sounds cliché, ‘going into medicine to help people,’ but what’s wrong with helping people? There are very few fields that let you do it the way medicine does,” Schechter said.
Overall, WPHLS members were pleased with the event.
“There was a lot of informal (one-on-one) talking after each panel and during the coffee and lunch breaks, which was what we had hoped for. We wanted attendees to feel comfortable asking questions and forming mentor-type relationships. Judging from the conversations many had during the conference and the exchange of contact information afterwards, I feel like we were able to achieve this,” senior Alice Hung, Programming Co-Chair for WPHLS, wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
