One hundred years ago, Clara Hillesheim was the first woman to earn an MD from the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated in just 3 years, and went on to perform autopsies at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. After only two years at Mayo, she returned home to care for her aging parents. She later taught physics and chemistry at her hometown high school. Gladys Girardeau was the second woman to graduate in 1918, and became an examining physician for the Bell Telephone Company in Philadelphia. These women were pioneers, establishing a path for many more women to follow as faculty, staff, and students at the Perelman School of Medicine.
One hundred years later, the entering class in the medical school is 50% women. The percentage of women in the standing faculty is now 32.7% compared to 26.5% ten years ago. We now have six women Department Chairs, two of which are in the basic sciences; clearly we have made huge strides in encouraging women to pursue medicine and other STEM careers. However, women still face challenges to achieving their goals; whether it is in being encouraged to choose one specialty over another, integrating their personal and professional lives, navigating the hurdles of their careers, advocating for their patients, pursuing leadership opportunities among an array of other opportunities. It is important to pause and celebrate the successes of the women who have contributed to the success of Penn Medicine over the last 100 years as we continue to support current and future generations.
In honor of Women in Medicine month, and the anniversary of Dr. Clara Hillesheim's graduation, the Office of Inclusion and Diversity and the Penn Special Interest Group in Health Disparities and Health Equity hosted two former United States Surgeons General, to share their experiences. Dr. Antonia Novello, 14th U.S. Surgeon General, was the first female and first Hispanic to hold the position, and Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders, 15th U.S. Surgeon general was the first African American woman to be appointed. They met with Perelman School of Medicine Dean, Dr. J. Larry Jameson, Dr. Eve Higginbotham, Vice Dean for the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, along with members of the Penn Medicine Community at an intimate breakfast on Women in Medicine Day, September 7, 2017. The engaging two-hour session began with a presentation entitled "Addressing Socioeconomic Health Disparities Through Chronic Stress Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Blight Remediation" by Dr. Eugenia South. Dr. Antonia Novello and Dr. Elders probed the speaker to gain additional insight into her research and shared with all those present their views on state of health care today and thoughtful perspectives about careers in medicine.
Both speakers stayed for the lunchtime seminar sponsored by FOCUS on Health and Leadership for Women where they shared their professional journeys, including not only lessons learned as public servants and health care professionals, but also pearls on how to navigate careers, and strategies to balance personal and professional responsibilities. A particularly poignant moment was when Dr. Jocelyn Elders shared her four "C's" of leadership: clarity of vision, competence, commitment, and taking control of your own agenda. These principles have served her well throughout her career. Dr. Antonio Novello encouraged providers to stay involved and advocate for the needs of patients. There were many more moments of wisdom that were shared during this short visit, and thus, we look forward to welcoming both of our Surgeon Generals back to Penn in the future. They are indeed pioneers in the service to our country as leaders in public health.
Women have come a long way in medicine, however we still have many hurdles to overcome. The visit by our two former surgeon generals inspired everyone continue to set goals, remain resilient, and remain mindful of the importance of balancing the stress of work with time with family and friends.
We'd like to give a special thanks to Dr. Elders and Dr. Novello for being our honored guests, and to everyone who came to meet with them, for helping us celebrate the many accomplishments of women in medicine.
*If you are interested in attending future Special Interest Group breakfasts, and would like to be added to the email list, please contact the Office of Inclusion and Diversity at oid@mail.med.upenn.edu or call 215-898-5581.