June 21, 2013

Women's leadership conference explores opportunities challenges in academic medicine

The OHSU group Women in Academic Medicine (WAM) hosted the first OHSU Advancing Women in Leadership Conference on May 29. Event registration quickly reached capacity, and attendees represented departments and units across OHSU, including students, faculty members and staff.

Organizers of the event aimed to enhance leadership skills for all attendees as well as foster communication with the university and provide professional networking. Video is now available (see below).

The keynote speaker was Patricia Hurn, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research and innovation, University of Texas System Office of Health Affairs. Her talk was followed by an interactive session on negotiation with John Saultz, M.D., chair and professor of family medicine at OHSU, and a panel discussion with current leaders in various disciplines at OHSU.

To explain the title of her talk, Moving Women to Full Throttle, Dr. Hurn said, “There have been advances for women, and advances for diversity, but we are really at a point where we need to move to what I call ‘full throttle.’ It’s time to make some large strides.”

Exploring topics such as work-life balance, diversity, leadership in basic sciences, resiliency and mentoring, participants also engaged in table discussions to identify opportunities to cultivate leadership at OHSU.

Support for the event came from the SoM Office of the Dean, the OHSU Center for Diversity & Inclusion and the Fund for the Advancement of Women’s Leadership. Learn more about supporting the Fund on the WAM website. Initial contributions supported the Women’s Stories Project.

Event organizers intend to make the women’s leadership conference an annual event.

Watch the videos

Patricia Hurn, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research and innovation, University of Texas System

Jeanette Mladenovic, M.D., MBA, provost and vice president for academic affairs

John Saultz, M.D., chair and professor of family medicine

Panel discussion among Dr. Hurn, Sharon Anderson, M.D., professor and interim chair of medicine, Stacy Nicholson, M.D., MPH, chair and professor of pediatrics, and Mary Stenzel-Poore, Ph.D., senior associate dean for research

 

Pictured (l to r): Dr. Hurn, Tracy Bumsted, M.D., MPH, associate dean for undergraduate medical education, Karen Eden, Ph.D., and John Ng, M.D., co-chairs of the Women in Academic Medicine group