Ever since Elizabeth Blackwell became the first American woman to gain admission to medical school over 150 years ago, women have made great advances within the medical profession. By overcoming traditional barriers to take their place within the profession of medicine, they have become a strong and vital force, achieving a level of prominence that was unimaginable in the 19th century. 

The Lewis Katz School of Medicine's Committee on the Status of Women Faculty coordinates and sponsors activities and programs that continue to foster the professional development of women faculty. Our mission is to ensure that the rising numbers of women in medicine continue to increase and women continue to succeed in the profession of medicine. To achieve our goal, we: 

• Provide liaison with the medical school administration to ensure policies and procedures advance equity at LKSOM.​  

• Sponsor faculty development through workshops and seminars to promote leadership at LKSOM (and beyond) that better reflects the diverse fields of science and medicine.​  

• Promote mentoring and networking among women faculty of all levels and across basic science and clinical areas to create community and connection.​  

• Increase visibility for women clinicians and basic science faculty by promoting on social media, nominating for awards and leadership training programs and other recognition to advance their careers in medicine and science.​  

• Promote advocacy, awareness, and education around issues that impact women faculty, while recognizing intersectionality. This includes demonstration of solidarity with groups that have been marginalized within medicine and science. 

We carry on in the spirit of Dr. Marie Mergler, a pioneering woman abdominal surgeon and gynecologist at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, who in 1896 wrote: 

    "No woman studying medicine today will ever know how much it has cost the individuals personally concerned in bringing about these changes; how eagerly they have watched new developments and mourned each defeat and rejoiced with each success. For with them it meant much more than success or failure for the individual, it meant the failure or success of a grand cause." 

Members 

The Committee on the Status of Women Faculty's primary function is to sponsor activities and programs promoting the professional development of women faculty. 

The Committee meets regularly on the second Thursday of every month from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. For further information, please contact  Jamie Garfield, MD.  

Faculty are welcome to contact any of the below committee members with questions or issues concerning women in medicine and science. 

• Ellen Unterwald, PhD, Department of Neural Sciences, Center for Substance Abuse Research 

• Conchi Estarás, PhD, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences 

• Sumita Bhambhani, MD, Department of Anesthesiology 

• Kelly Whelan, PhD, Department of Cancer and Cellular Biology  

• Dianne Langford, PhD, Department of Neural Sciences 

• Neena Mohan, MD, Department of Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology 

• Jamie Garfield, MD, Department of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery (Chair)  

• Candrice Heath, MD, Department of Dermatology 

• Nora Jones, PhD, Department of Urban Health and Population Science 

• Stephanie Sillivan, PhD, Department of Neural Sciences, Center for Substance Abuse Research 

• Anjali Vaidya, MD, FACC, FASE, FACP, Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology  

News & Events  

Events 

• Fall Meet and Greet Networking Event 

• Spring Faculty Development Workshop  

• ​​Mentoring Awards 

News  

• Nomination Instructions: 2022 LKSOM Women in Medicine & Science Mentoring Award 

• View the 2019 Honor Roll of Women (PDF) 

• Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University Joins ‘Time’s Up Healthcare’ as a Signatory Member 
    

Resources 

Publications and Useful Links 

Following are web sites with useful information about women faculty in medicine: 

• Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS) 

• Association of Black Women Physicians 

• Medical Women's International Association 

• Women in Medicine and Science Leadership Development Award 

• Women in U.S. Academic Medicine Statistics and Medical School Benchmarking, 2013-2014 

• Changing the Face of Medicine:  Celebrating America's Women Physicians 

• MomMD:  Connecting Women in Medicine 

• American Medical Women's Association 

• Mentor.net 

Following is a list of recommended reading related to women in medicine. This list was compiled by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC): 

• Collection of publications on women in medicine and science compiled by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) 

• GWIMS Toolkit 

• GWIMS Webinar: Power Reimagined – Advancing Women into Emerging Leadership Positions 

• Faculty Roster: U.S. Medical School Faculty 

• Diversity in Medicine: Facts and Figures 2019 

• Differences in U.S. Medical School Faculty Job Satisfaction by Gender 

• The Changing Representation of Men and Women in Academic Medicine 

• The Underrepresentation of Women in Leadership Positions at U.S. Medical Schools 

• Women of Color Initiative 

• Diversity Facts and Figures 

• An Overview of Women Full-time Medical School Faculty of Color 

• An Overview of Women in U.S. Academic Medicine, 2005-2006 

• Physician Specialty Data Report 

• A Quantitative Linguistic Analysis of National Institutes of Health R01 Application Critiques From Investigators at One Institution 

• Changing the Culture of Academic Medicine: Perspectives of Women Faculty 

• The Effect of an Intervention to Break the Gender Bias Habit for Faculty at One Institution 

• The Next Generation of Title IX: STEM-Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math 

• Women as Physician Leaders 

• The State of Women in Academic Medicine: The Pipeline and Pathways to Leadership, 2015-2016