Although women have made substantial progress in medical school enrollment, residency training opportunities, and composition of the physician workforce, much remains to be done to improve equity and increase leadership opportunities for women in medicine. This American College of Physicians (ACP) position paper provides recommendations to achieve gender equity in physician compensation and career advancement.
Use this paper to:
- Consider whether you believe there are different expectations of women and men in your learning environment. Are women and men judged by different standards with regard to what makes them good physicians and colleagues?
- Think about ways that gender discrimination harms both women and men in medicine.
- The ACP calls on training programs to develop and distribute medical leave policies. Does your program have a written policy? Are your classmates aware of what it says? Do women and men face different pressures from your program when asking for time away to care for a newborn or newly adopted child or a seriously ill family member?
- Do you and your classmates receive education regarding the navigation of applications and negotiations for jobs after your training? How should you approach concerns about equitable pay?
- Is there transparency in compensation at your institution?
- Use the accompanying editorial to help frame your thoughts.
Annals of Internal Medicine is the premier internal medicine academic journal published by the American College of Physicians (ACP). It is one of the most widely cited and influential specialty medical journals in the world.