why a conference for women’s physicians?

Dr. Howe’s WPW20 Welcome Speech titled “Why A Women’s Conference?”

(click on title to view welcome speech)

1.     Mentorship: Hitchcock MA, et al. Professional networks: the influence of colleagues on the success of faculty.  Academic Med. 1995 Dec; 70(12):1108-16.

In 1995, a literature review exploring colleague relationships and found that “the most important source for developing colleague relationships is professional associations, while the least important source is one's own institution.”

2.     Collaboration, collegiality: Wai PY, et al.  Engagement, workplace satisfaction, and retention of surgical specialists in academic medicine in the United States.  J Am Coll Surg. 2014 Jul;219(1):31-42.

“Promotion equality, collegiality and collaboration, and nature of their work were most closely related to intent to leave the medical school within 1 to 2 years.”

3.     Improved promotion and advancement: Morzinski JA, et al.  A nationwide study of the influence of faculty development programs on colleague relationships.

“Colleague gains were positively associated with academic socialization. Colleagues actively assisted with academic achievements . FDPs help enrollees build career-important relationships with peers, mentors, and academic consultants who enhance socialization skills and contribute to academic advancement.”

4.     More than double the rate of promotion:   Anchor S.  Do women’s networking events move the needle on equality?  Harvard Business Review.  Feb 13, 2018.

“For the women who’d signed up for the conference but had yet to attend, 18% received a promotion during the time period we studied, compared with 42% of women who had already attended the conference. In other words, in the year after connecting with peers at the Conference for Women, the likelihood of receiving a promotion doubled.”

5.      More likely to retain you as faculty: Change S, et al.  Retaining Faculty in Academic Medicine: The Impact of Career Development Programs for Women.  J Womens Health. 2016 Jul; 25(7):687-96.

“Burnout is associated with Higher job turnover, loss of productivity and Physician shortage.”

“Approximately 10% increase in retention over the 10 years following a Career Development Program (CDP).”

6.     More likely to retain you as faculty: Ries A, et al.  Retention of junior faculty in academic medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Acad Med. 2009 Jan;84(1):37-41

“While faculty who have higher rates of burnout are more likely to have thoughts of leaving their institution or quit medicine altogether…Faculty participating in the faculty development program were 67% more likely to remain at their institutions as compared with nonparticipating faculty.”

7.     Money saved by the department:  Schloss EP, Flanagan DM, Culler CL, Wright AL.  Some hidden costs of faculty turnover in clinical departments in one academic medical center.  Acad Med. 2009 Jan; 84(1):32-6.

 “The recruitment, hiring, and lost clinical income cost of replacing a generalist was $115,554; for replacing a subspecialist, the cost was $286,503; and for a surgical subspecialist, the cost was $587,125. The average annual cost of turnover for the departments of medicine and surgery exceeded $400,000.”

 8.     Fights isolation, loneliness.  Brown S.  Bringing back the doctor’s lounge to help fight burnout.  CMAJ.  2019 Mar 4; 191 (9): E268-E269.

“…a space for physicians to come together and get away from the action of work.”

 9.     More productivity. Olson KD.  Physician Burnout—A Leading Indicator of Health System Performance?  Mayo Clinic Proceedings. November 2017.  Volume 92, Issue 11, Pages 1608–1611.

“Burnout was the the factor most strongly related to physicians' plans to withdraw from the clinical workforce by reducing to part-time within the next 12 months (19.8%); leaving the clinical workforce within the next 2 years by retiring (9.9%).”

10.     More collaborations and research, especially among junior faculty and trainees:  Gaetke-Udager K, et al.  A Women in Radiology Group Fosters Career Development for Faculty and Trainees.  AJR Am J Roentgenol.  AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2018 Jul;211(1):W47-W51.

Among women trainees and junior faculty who attended a Women in Radiology Career Development Group as compared to senior faculty, they were “…more likely to expanded internal networking opportunities (94% vs 69%; p = 0.07), have gained a mentor (67% vs 8%; p = 0.001), and to have increased research involvement (33% vs 0%; p = 0.02).”

11.     More pay: Anchor S.  Do women’s networking events move the needle on equality?  Harvard Business Review.  Feb 13, 2018.

“15% attendees got a pay raise vs 5% non-attendees of a women’s networking event.”

12.     Less burnout, more optimism: Anchor S.  Do women’s networking events move the needle on equality?  Harvard Business Review.  Feb 13, 2018.

“71% felt more connected to others and 78% felt more optimism about the future.”

13.     Better patient care including less medical errors, lower patient mortality, fewer hospital-transmitted infections, more honesty among med students, an increased sense of altruism, higher patient satisfaction, and a lower likelihood of being in a malpractice suit.

o   Reith TP.  Burnout in United States Healthcare Professionals: A Narrative Review.  Cureus.  2018 Dec; 10 (12): e3681.

o   Shanafelt TD, Balch CM, Bechamps G, et al. Burnout and medical errors among American surgeons. Ann Surg. 2010;251:995–1000. 

o   Welp A, Meier LL, Manser T.  Emotional exhaustion and workload predict clinician-rated and objective patient safety.  Front Psychol. 2014; 5:1573.

o   Balch CM, Oreskovich MR, Dyrbye LN, Colaiano JM, Satele DV, Sloan JA, Shanafelt TD. Personal consequences of malpractice lawsuits on American surgeons. J Am Coll Surg. 2011;213:657–667.

o   Cimiotti JP, Aiken LH, Sloane DM, Wu ES. Nurse staffing, burnout, and health care-associated infection.  Am J Infect Control. 2012 Aug; 40(6):486-90.

o   Dyrbye LN, Massie FS Jr, Eacker A, Harper W, Power D, Durning SJ, Thomas MR, Moutier C, Satele D, Sloan J, Shanafelt TD.  Relationship between burnout and professional conduct and attitudes among US medical students.  JAMA. 2010 Sep 15; 304(11):1173-80.

o   Halbesleben JR, Rathert Linking physician burnout and patient outcomes: exploring the dyadic relationship between physicians and patients.  C  Health Care Manage Rev. 2008 Jan-Mar; 33(1):29-39.

o   Shanafelt T, Sloan J, Satele D, Balch C.Why do surgeons consider leaving practice?    J Am Coll Surg. 2011 Mar; 212(3):421-2.

o   Shanafelt TD, Dyrbye LN, West CP, Sinsky CA.Potential Impact of Burnout on the US Physician Workforce..    Mayo Clin Proc. 2016 Nov; 91(11):1667-1668.

o   Leigh JP, Tancredi D, Jerant A, Kravitz RL.  Annual work hours across physician specialties.  Arch Intern Med. 2011 Jul 11; 171(13):1211-3.

o   Sinsky C, Colligan L, Li L, Prgomet M, Reynolds S, Goeders L, Westbrook J, Tutty M, Blike G.  Allocation of Physician Time in Ambulatory Practice: A Time and Motion Study in 4 Specialties.  Ann Intern Med. 2016 Dec 6; 165(11):753-760.