Women’s Task Force Events and Updates

The Department of Medicine’s Task Force on Women's Academic Careers in Medicine (TF) was created in 1990 with the goal of identifying career obstacles facing women and working with departmental leadership to develop solutions. This work includes supporting the needs of women fellows and residents in the department. The Fellow Committee on the Task Force is made up of six women fellows and focuses on creating career development programming for women trainees, fostering a sense of community among trainees and promoting networking opportunities between trainees and women faculty in the DOM.

The Fellow Committee along with the TF sponsor a variety of events to engage trainees. Most recently the group hosted a panel discussion on job negotiation for DOM women fellows. The panel consisted of:

• Jill Kearney, MBA, MA, administrator for the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and assistant dean at Johns Hopkins Bayview
• Jeanne Clarke, MD, director, Division of General Internal Medicine
• Cynthia Rand, PhD, professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and assistant dean for faculty at Johns Hopkins Bayview.

Attendees discussed how to approach job interviews and contract negotiation for early-career jobs in academic medicine. The take-home messages include: do your homework (find out ahead of time about the institution, position and the faculty you will be meeting with during your interview) and be prepared to negotiate (practice, practice, practice). Over 25 trainees were in attendance. The following are resources for successful job negotiation:

• https://hbr.org/2014/04/15-rules-for-negotiating-a-job-offer
• http://www.jhsph.edu/sebin/g/i/salarynegotiate.pdf
• https://dtm.carnegiescience.edu/sites/dtm/files/AfterTheOffer_0.pdf

Trainees who are interesting in learning more about the Fellow Committee or faculty who would like to refer trainees should feel free to contact Natasha Chida at [email protected].