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On September 15, 2018, UB DoctHERS, an organization supporting women in medicine and science and founded in 2015 in Buffalo NY, held its third annual Symposium, titled “Reaching Your Potential Now”. The Symposium was hosted by Rose Berkun, MD, FASA, Assistant Professor at Jacobs School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology and Lauren Kuwik, MD, Assistant Professor at Jacobs School of Medicine Department of Medicine and Pediatrics.
The mission of UB DoctHERS is to provide a forum for networking, mentoring, sponsorship, advocacy and leadership development for women physicians and medical students. Topics covered in quarterly meetings and the annual Symposium include gender pay gap, work-life balance, professional advancement in academic medicine, private practice and organized medicine, contract negotiations, and sexual harassment.
This year’s Symposium speakers included Jane Van Dis, MD, Jaime Hope, MD and Judith Biltekoff, Esq. Dr. Van Dis is Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota Department of OB/GYN. Her lecture was titled “Mind the Gaps: Pay, Promotion and Equity for Women in Healthcare”. She provided statistical evidence on the widening gender pay gap and gender wealth gap. Dr. Hope is Assistant Professor at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine. She spoke about the Imposter Syndrome and positive ways to overcome it. Attorney Judith Biltekoff, who spent most of her career at the department of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a senior trial attorney, provided information on equal employment rights for females in healthcare.
The Symposium was attended by over 150 physicians and medical students and offered CME credits.
