I commend Anita Palepu and Carol Herbert1 for challenging us to rethink the orthodoxy that characterizes medical academia. It is through the work of pioneers such as these that not only women, but also visible minorities and other previously restricted demographic groups have entered and succeeded in the academic realm.
Perhaps one of the most critical elements in this transition is the social awareness within student populations at Canadian medical schools. At the University of Western Ontario, I witnessed the development and expansion of several initiatives related to gender, culture and socioeconomics, and from my vantage point as a student leader, I observed this trend at other Canadian medical schools as well.
Central to the success of these projects was the support, both moral and financial, of faculty and administrators. Palepu and Herbert recommend mentorship and innovative administrative portfolios as ways to encourage women to advance their academic careers. Such initiatives send a strong message about the priorities and social conscience of an academic faculty of medicine and create a supportive environment for medical students. Also, the people acting as mentors and promoting this philosophy are often students' most vocal advocates.
With regard to the authors' notion that female academics often take a different career route than “their male counterparts,” perhaps we should broaden our definition of academic and professional success to encompass a variety of alternative pathways and thus to ensure that no academic physician is prevented from building his or her career in a nontraditional way. Facilitating such a paradigm shift will allow physicians to attend to family responsibilities, professional projects and personal growth, the common endpoints being the development of diverse skill sets and truly satisfied academic physicians.
Sachin R. Pendharkar PGY1 (Internal Medicine) University of Toronto Toronto, Ont.
Reference
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