It’s safe to say that being a doctor is up there as one of the most influential professions one can pursue, but has the status of women in the medical field ever crossed your mind? For first year UCSF medical student Carlene Partow, the need to highlight a fairly unknown disparity in the medical field was enough for her to create a revolution exploring this divide.
“Dr. Nancy Ascher, the first female chair of the Department of Surgery at UCSF, and pioneer of solid organ transplantation in HIV positive patients, reached out to me to assist with the women in surgery group at UCSF,” Partow explained to Her Campus. “Upon conducting my research in preparation for the meeting, I was astounded to discover the number of women surgeons of color is so low it is unreported, 14 percent of board certified plastic surgeons are women, less than 5 percent of board certified cardiac surgeons are women, and 6 percent of board certified neurological surgeons are women, a number that will only increase to 12 percent by 2045.”
Partow found the prediction of female neurological surgeons increasing so little particularly disheartening because of her own career aspirations and the fact that she had never considered it being an issue. Given her involvement as a leader of her university’s Hopkins Feminists and history of shadowing a female neurosurgeon, Partow wondered how someone as well informed as she was could still be unaware of the gender divide.
“I decided immediately it was time for a revolution,” Partow said. “However, you cannot fix a problem you do not know exists, so before we can start our nationwide movement to improve the state of women in surgery, we need to raise awareness about this important problem.”
Partow, a 2016 graduate of Johns Hopkins University, has joined together with her friend and current JHU student Alizay Jalisi to host a livestreamed panel discussion called “The State of Women in Surgery.” Taking place on the JHU campus on Monday, April 17, the event will feature several female professionals in the surgical field who have ties to the medical programs at Johns Hopkins.
“Our Facebook event has reached almost nine thousand people so far,” Partow said. “Most importantly though, we have begun to receive messages…regarding interest in our livestreamed panel from surgeons all over the country.”
We have no problem admitting that powerful things happen when women come together, and Partow and Jalisi’s event is no exception. If you’re on a pre-med path, why not tune into the panel at 6 EST for an empowering insight into closing the gender gap in the surgical field?
“The culture within medical schools as it exists now is not conducive to encouraging women into surgical specialties,” Partow shared. “It is time that we join together [as] allies and sisters in the struggle alike, and start this revolution, not just for our own personal gain, but for our patients.”