Association of Academic Physiatrists Women’s Task Force Report

Abstract

The Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) convened a women's task force in 2016, and the members agreed on a list of metrics that would permit retrospective data review pertaining to the representation and inclusion of women physicians in the society. Examples of categories examined included leadership positions (i.e., board membership, board presidents, committee membership, committee chairs, and resident fellow physician chairs), conference presentations (i.e., annual meeting session proposals, annual meeting faculty, annual meeting plenary speakers), and recognition awards (i.e., recognition award nominations and recipients). The findings highlight areas in which the Association of Academic Physiatrists has been successful in supporting gender equity and other areas in which women physiatrists have been underrepresented. The task force worked with the Board of Trustees to construct an action plan, asking the respective committees to address areas of underrepresentation. A volunteer from each committee was deemed a "diversity steward" and going forward will work directly with the task force as a liaison to document an action plan and collect data. The board plans to transparently report progress to members and other stakeholders, and the task force aims to publish a follow-up report within the next 5 years.

Physician Workforce Disparities and Patient Care: A Narrative Review

“…Because reasons for inequity may differ between underrepresented groups of physicians, we call on every institution and organization to examine equity in a manner consistent with a six-step data-driven and evidencebased procedure proposed for women in medical specialty societies, which involves identification of inequities, investigation of root causes, implementation of and measurement of outcomes associated with compensatory strategies, and reporting of results to all stakeholders. 94,100 Author Disclosure Statement J.K.S. discloses that she received a grant from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to support this work.…”

“…92 Women physicians do not equitably receive recognition awards, [93][94][95][96] and there are troubling disparities in speaking, 94,95 publishing, 97,98 and leadership opportunities. 99,100 Organizational barriers 101 and implicit bias 94,102 are often cited as major contributing factors supporting ongoing disparities for women in medicine.…”

“…Adoption of systematic guidelines to end gender discrimination and improve the advancement of women in medicine 94,181 Support rising women physicians through sponsorship, 182 equitable funding (grant and award), 183 and equitable collaboration and representation among authors, 97,98 award recipients, 93,94,183 faculty, editorial boards, 184 committee members, 100 and presidents of medical specialty societies 99 Improve parental support, including but not limited to ''longer paid maternity leave, backup child care, lactation support, and increased schedule flexibility'' 79 Improve support for physicians as family caregivers 19 Improve control over patient-related decision-making, including but not limited to selection of referral physicians and determination of hospital length of stay 19 Improve control or influence over work environment such as space and facilities, clinic/office schedule, patient load, and patient characteristics 19…”

Micro‐inequities in Medicine

“…The Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) has developed a Women in Academic Physiatry task force that I co‐chair with Sara Cuccurullo, MD, and includes male and female physiatrists working together. We just released a report that identifies gaps at the AAP and proposes solutions to address them [4]. The AAPM&R Board of Governors is in the process of finalizing a diversity and inclusion strategic plan and creating a new standing committee to inform board members' decisions and actions as individual leaders and to evolve a more inclusive organizational culture.…”

Can Neurologists Come from Behind and Lead the Way in Physician Gender Equity?

“…16 Second, societies must examine inclusion data for a set of society-level metrics and publish the results as well as an action plan as my colleagues and I have done at the Association of Academic Physiatrists. 17 Importantly, the path to equity requires the analysis of a comprehensive set of metrics on an ongoing basis. Diversity committees and task forces may direct or support these efforts, but ''diversity structures'' themselves may actually make things worse, not better, if leaders believe that equity is being addressed when there is no equity data or the data do not actually support those assumptions.…”