WINning in ICU

This is a guest post by Dr Lucy Modra from the Women in Intensive Care Medicine Network (WIN) The Women in Intensive Care Medicine Network (WIN) was formed in 2015, with the aim of improving the gender balance in Australasian intensive care medicine through research, advocacy and networking. But why was WIN established? How many female doctors actually work in intensive care medicine in Australia? The Medical Training Review Panel reports data directly from Australasian specialty colleges regarding their fellows and trainees. In 2015, 17.1% of CICM fellows and 32.1% of CICM advanced trainees were female. In comparison, 51% of medical school graduates were women in 2015. Intensive care medicine is included in a list of “…specialties that consistently had a lower proportion of female trainees…”. There are even fewer women in leadership positions within intensive care medicine. Women make up only 10.5% of Clinical Directors of ICUs accredited by the CICM in 2016. There are only 4 women out of 18 members of the CICM board and just one woman sitting on the ANZICS board (15 members). So, what’s the big deal – why does this matter? The bottom line is that gender diversity is essential to ensure we can achieve the best outcomes for our patients and is imperative for the sustainability of our specialty. Sure, it is promising that the proportion of female trainees is higher than the proportion of female CICM fellows. However we need to work to ensure this translates to m...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Intensive Care gender issues lucy modra medical workforce sarah yong WIN women in intensive care medicine network Source Type: blogs