overview
In 2019, Dr. Barbara Jung was appointed as the first female chair of the Department of Medicine in its more than 70-year history.
In 2020, Dr. Jung hosted a screening of the film Picture a Scientist – a feature-length documentary film chronicling the groundswell of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists – and moderated a discussion following the film, which led to the formation of the inaugural Department of Medicine Gender Equity Council.
This initiative was met with resounding enthusiasm, with over 60 volunteers for council membership.
working toward gender equity in the department of medicine
Learn about our work during our inaugural year.
Picture a scientist
The Department of Medicine has purchased an Institutional & Public Viewing License of Picture a Scientist, a feature-length documentary film chronicling the groundswell of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists.
Women Physicians in History
February 3, 2017, marked the first observance of National Women Physician Day – a day of remembrance of the birthday of the first woman medical doctor, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, and of celebration of women and their contributions in the medical field.
Dr. Blackwell received her medical doctorate degree from Geneva Medical College, later Hobart College, in 1849. She was joined in 1864 by Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first Black woman medical doctor, upon the conferring of her MD from the New England Female Medical College, later Boston University School of Medicine.
Since this time, women have made strides into a field historically and staunchly dominated by men. Women have made numerous contributions to medical science, including basic science discoveries, characterization of diseases, and the pioneering of diagnostics and treatments. While today, men doctors still make up the majority of physicians, medical schools are roughly equal in graduating women and men with even higher rates of women students seen in the last few years.