S A E M
NEWSLETTER
Newsletter of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Some Thoughts Regarding Gender Issues in the Mentoring of Future Academicians As academicians in emergency medicine (EM), we must consider the steps we should be taking now to ensure that the next generation of EM academicians are fully prepared to fulfill the scientific, educational, and clinical roles of the Roger J. Lewis, MD, PhD future. One of the most important predictors of academic success, at least as judged by traditional measures (e.g., research productivity, publications, and extramural funding), is the availability of a mentor during the young academician’s critical period of development (e.g., fellowship and the first years as faculty). While a number of insightful authors have discussed a number of important aspects of the mentor, and of the mentor-mentee relationship, which increase their value to the young academician, in this column I will focus on a topic which is usually not mentioned: the issue of gender and its impact on the mentoring of young academicians. As in my last column, I will begin by considering a myth, a statement that seems eminently true, at least until explored more carefully. Consider the following statement: "The process of mentorship should be gender blind; anything else is discriminatory and inappropriate." Although many of us are probably inclined to agree with this statement, possibly because it appeals to our sense of fairness and equity, I believe that this statement is not true and, moreover, belief in this myth is a barrier to the optimal training and academic development of women in academic emergency medicine. Before addressing specific gender issues in mentorship, it is useful to review some recent studies evaluating the challenges facing women in academic medicine. In a recent study,1 Nonnemaker demonstrated that women are still under-represented in senior academic positions, despite near gender equality (44%) in incoming medical school classes. In addition, she found that women were more likely to enter academic careers than men, but less likely to be promoted to the level of Associate Professor. In an associated editorial,2 Catherine D. De Angelis stated that "…women who have reached the rank of Associate Professor have had time… to prove their worth. It just seems to take more proof for women than for men." [Dr. De Angelis is the current editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association.] In contrast to Nonnemaker’s study, which addressed both basic science and clinical departments within medical schools, Cydulka et al addressed the status of women in academic EM in a study published in Academic Emergency Medicine in 2000.3 Cydulka et al found that "Women in academic EM were less likely to hold major leadership positions, spent a greater percentage of time in clinical and teaching activities, published less in peer-review journals, and were less likely to achieve senior academic (continued on page 14)
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July/August 2002 Volume XIV, Number 4
Medical Student Interest Group Grants Deadline: September 4, 2002 SAEM recognizes the valuable role of EM Medical Student Interest Groups to the specialty and has established grants of up to $500 each to help support these groups' educational activities. Established or developing clubs, located at medical schools with or without EM residencies are eligible to apply. The deadline for this year's grants is September 4, 2002. Applications can be obtained at www.saem.org or from the SAEM office. Information on the grants approved for funding earlier this year can be found in the January/February 2002 issue of the SAEM Newsletter. In addition two articles in the May/June issue of the Newsletter described recipients’ use of their grant funds.
Emergency Medicine Activities at the AAMC Annual Meeting The Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine (AACEM) and SAEM have developed a presentation and panel discussion to be held on Sunday, November 10, 2002 during the AAMC Annual meeting. The sessions will be held at the San Francisco Hilton Hotel. All emergency physicians are invited to attend any of the sessions at no charge. However, pre-registration for lunch is required. You can register for lunch via email at saem@saem.org. Contact the SAEM office with any questions. The sessions begin at 8:00 am with a presentation entitled “ED Overcrowding: Threat to EM Residency Training”, sponsored by SAEM. Speakers will include Brent Asplin, MD, Robert Derlet, MD, and Mark Henry, MD. At 9:45 am, John Moorhead, MD, will speak on “Workforce Issues in Emergency Medicine”. Dr. Moorhead is a past-President of ACEP and currently heads their Workforce Taskforce. At 10:45 am, AACEM will hold its Business meeting and from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, lunch will be provided. Once again, all emergency medicine physicians are welcome to attend.