Women in Medical Education combines personal narratives written by sixteen women medical educators who, as clinicians, basic scientists, administrators, and medical humanities faculty, write of their experiences with students, patients, colleagues, and administrators. Their narratives reflect the issues confronting women in the medical academy today, including working in situations where power relations are embedded and enacted daily in the ethos of the institution; where rigid disciplinary boundaries do not include or invite inquiry into gender, race, ethnicity, or class; where integrating one's personal and work life often seems overwhelming. Yet their stories reflect the success and recognition that women in academic medicine have achieved. The book includes essays written by Beth Alexander, Janet Bickel, Dale G. Blackstock, Kate H. Brown, Lucy M. Candib, Pamela Charney, Frances Conley, Leah J. Dickstein, Jacalyn Duffin, Deborah Jones, Perri Klass, Mary Mahowald, Marian Gray Secundy, Marjorie S. Sirridge, Rebekah Wang-Cheng, and the editor.

Neither legalization of abortion nor scientific and political advances in contraception and abortion ensure that training and research in family planning are routinely integrated into medical education. Without integration, subsequent generations of healthcare professionals are not prepared to incorporate evidence-based family planning into their practices, teaching, or research. Omission of this crucial component prevents the cultural and professional normalization of an often stigmatized and embattled aspect of women's health. Taking the successful US-based Ryan and Family Planning Fellowship programs as templates for training, teaching, and academic leadership, this book describes the integration of family planning and pregnancy termination into curricula with an international outlook. With an evidence- and systems-based approach, the book is a unique and practical guide to inspire and train the next generation of healthcare professionals.

The number of women practicing medicine in the United States has grown steadily since the late 1960s, with women now roughly at parity with men among entering medical students. Why did so many women enter American medicine? How are women faring, professionally and personally, once they become physicians? Are women transforming the way medicine is practiced? To answer these questions, The Changing Face of Medicine draws on a wide array of sources, including interviews with women physicians and surveys of medical students and practitioners. The analysis is set in the twin contexts of a rapidly evolving medical system and profound shifts in gender roles in American society. Throughout the book, Ann K. Boulis and Jerry A. Jacobs critically examine common assumptions about women in medicine. For example, they find that women's entry into medicine has less to do with the decline in status of the profession and more to do with changes in women's roles in contemporary society. Women physicians' families are becoming more and more like those of other working women. Still, disparities in terms of specialty, practice ownership, academic rank, and leadership roles endure, and barriers to opportunity persist. Along the way, Boulis and Jacobs address a host of issues, among them dual-physician marriages, specialty choice, time spent with patients, altruism versus materialism, and how physicians combine work and family. Women's presence in American medicine will continue to grow beyond the 50 percent mark, but the authors question whether this change by itself will make American medicine more caring and more patient centered. The future direction of the profession will depend on whether women doctors will lead the effort to chart a new course for health care delivery in the United States.

"While this book's focus is on integrating training after contraception and abortion become legal, many, if not all of the systems and approaches described in this book are equally applicable in countries where abortion is illegal or access to abortion and contraception is limited. Our educational concepts and approaches may seem too complex, expensive or impractical for resource-poor countries where family planning services, no matter how poorly delivered, are judged adequate or are so controversial that ignoring them is the safest course. In fact, this attitude perpetuates the status quo, prevents progress or leads to a deterioration of health care. In the context of family planning, this view is particularly detrimental. It reinforces the perception that family planning and reproductive health have little status or value in health care delivery, and therefore in medical education. Ensuring a properly informed, motivated, and caring workforce to drive research and policy must be the aim of every country. Education of that workforce is paramount for promoting health in general and reproductive health in particular. While legalization of abortion is an essential element in promoting women's and public health, the advocates for reform and those responsible for implementation often do not consider the essential link: the systemic education of all involved in providing the care, for which we hope this book will offer inspiration and guidance"--

No wonder so many women are choosing to become physicians. The field of medicine offers abundant opportunities—to take care of individuals; improve public health; advance science; make a good living; and become a leader in the community, in an academic center, and in professional organizations. The demand for women physicians is growing dramatically, as more and more women health care consumers actively and specifically seek them. Chapters cover getting into medical school, overcoming gender stereotypes, finding a mentor, combining parenting with a career, and looking ahead into the career. While women are no longer newcomers to medicine, compared to men they still face extra challenges in the development and valuing of their skills and potential. This book will help women entering medicine to maximize their options and to have the fullest possible lives and careers. Women in Medicine draws on all the best available literature and on the experience of thousands of women physicians. It is a resource for anyone considering a medical career—whether they be in junior high school or in their 40s and contemplating a major life change— but especially women. This book will be useful throughout medical education and during early career development, as it includes tips on, for instance, interviewing for a job. Another helpful feature is that each chapter, except the last, concludes with a "Diagnose Yourself" section, to assist readers in beginning necessary preparations and to offer support. An extensive reference list facilitates follow-ups on areas of special interest

This critical assessment of the division of labour in medicine sets current practice in its historical context. The book demonstrates the centrality of gender divisions both between and within the individual medical and health professions - doctors, nurses, midwives and others. Drawing on accounts from different countries and a wide range of professional groups, the contributors examine the extent to which the division of labour is changing and the effect of such changes on the status of women within the health professions. While the proportion of female doctors is rising, the continued constraints on women attaining full equality are explored.