Summit Sets Course for Gender Equity in the Medical Profession
Dr Tessa Kennedy, Chair of the AMA Council of Doctors in Training, said there was strong support from participants at the AMA Gender Equity Summit held on 23 March 2019 in Sydney for structural reforms to achieve gender equity.
“These include improving access and uptake of parental leave and flexible work arrangements for men as well as women. This was a key recommendation to come out of the Summit,” Dr Kennedy said.
“Ensuring access to leave entitlements, including for general practice registrars, and interstate portability of entitlements for doctors working in the public health system were also considered central to improving work-life balance for both women and men in medicine.”
The AMA Gender Equity Summit provided a forum to discuss the cultural and systemic barriers to progress towards gender equity in medicine and determine what practical actions could be implemented to address them.
More than 70 leaders from across the AMA and the broader medical profession gathered at the AMA Gender Equity Summit in Sydney to discuss how to set a course of action to achieve greater gender equity in the AMA and the profession.
Guest speakers from industries outside of medicine shared with the participants how they had successfully shaped culture and systems to encourage gender equity in their workplaces and gave recommendations on how to achieve similar positive reforms in medicine. The Summit also heard from medical colleagues and health services about how they are starting to do that also.
Recommendations for action from the Summit include:
- establishing targets for representation;
- reporting and publishing gender equity data;
- providing access to leave entitlements, including for general practice registrars;
- providing interstate portability of entitlements for doctors working in the public health system;
- improving access and uptake of parental leave and flexible work arrangements for men as well as women;
- implementing transparent selection criteria and processes for entry into training and employment;
- providing access to breastfeeding facilities and childcare at exams, conferences, and work;
- identifying gender equity champions; and
- encouraging capable women to apply for leadership roles.
The AMA Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Committee will play an important role in actioning the Summit to drive progress towards achieving gender equity both within the AMA and externally.
More information is available on the AMA Gender Equity Summit website here
Read the AMA media release here
