Addressing Inequities in Academic Medicine

In recognition of Women in Medicine Month, TUSM is proud to share powerful insights from female faculty members. Rebecca Lufler, a leader in academic medicine, discusses the persistent inequities women face in the field and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these disparities. She highlights the importance of creating opportunities and frameworks to address these issues and shares her commitment to advancing equity through initiatives like the DELTA leadership program.

“It is well known that there are inequities in academic medicine, where women are paid less and occupy fewer advanced academic and leadership positions, historically referred to as ‘the leaky pipeline’ or ‘pyramid problem.’ In 2021, a colleague and I set out to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic medicine faculty responsibilities at home and work, and on mental health. We found that the inequities women experienced prior to the pandemic were exacerbated. Additionally, women, early career, and clinical faculty were more likely to experience negative impacts on mental health and self-care, and early career women were more likely to have concerns about the pandemic affecting their promotion prospects. But we can't only study and report these issues, we also need to provide opportunities and create a framework that diminishes the disparities. I am lucky to be at an institution and surrounded by colleagues who recognize and support this work, which is imperative to leading change.

To this end, a colleague at UMass Chan Medical School and I developed a national leadership program for underrepresented groups in academic medicine called Developing and Elevating Leaders with Tools for Advancement (DELTA). This program includes a three-day, in-person retreat with workshops aimed at equipping program fellows with the knowledge, skills, and mentorship to achieve their short- and long-term leadership goals.

I am passionate about this work, and I am encouraged by the fact that our students are passionate about it too. I would like to highlight TUSM medical students I am mentoring who are leading research projects in the area:

Hannah Gurley, M26, spearheaded a project investigating whether U.S. medical schools’ parental leave policies align with recommendations of medical associations, which has been submitted for publication. Hannah, along with colleagues Julia Greenwald, M25, and Deeksha Bathini, M25, also explored the parental leave benefits in medical school. We surveyed medical students and physicians on their experiences and opinions of taking parental leave in medical school, and Julia will be presenting our findings at the upcoming American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Districts I, V & VI Annual Meeting.

Mariah Milazzo, M25, and Annika Williams, M25, are leading a project investigating disparities in sexual health curricula across medical schools in the northeastern U.S., which has been submitted for publication. Their work is helping to shape the future of medical education.

I am guided by the popular quote ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world.’ Ultimately, we need to support and elevate one another. If we collectively drive this work forward, we will see a positive impact.”