By Lillian Erdahl, MD
The Association of Women Surgeons hosted its first joint tweetchat this week joined by the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma. Paula Ferrada, chair of the EAST Mentoring Committee hosted the chat joined by guests and EAST past-presidents Nicole Stassen and Kimberly Nagy. If you missed the chat, you can read this #storify for a recap of the #AWSEASTchat: https://storify.com/lillianerdahl/awseastchat-5937c42b5f3db4ab638f6bab#publicize
As highlighted in Heather Yeo’s recent blog post1, the topic chosen was mentorship which is an integral part of the missions of both professional organizations. We know that mentorship and sponsorship are important to professional success for all surgeons. According to a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine, women in academic medicine appear to receive less sponsorship from mentors then their male colleagues2.
Partnering with another professional organization to discuss such mentorship in a surgical career provides a broader perspective on how mentors and mentees can contribute to successful relationships. Working with EAST is a natural fit for AWS which has ongoing partnerships with other surgical organizations to promote equity in surgery. I am excited to see that our social media engagement continues to increase with each chat that we host. If you are looking to participate as a mentor or mentee for EAST or AWS, please visit their websites to learn more.3,4
- https://www.womensurgeons.org/may-is-mentorship-month/
- Patton EW, Griffith KA, Jones RD, et al. Differences in Mentor-Mentee Sponsorship in Male vs Female Recipients of National Institutes of Health Grants. JAMA Intern Med. 2017;177(4):580-582.
- https://www.east.org/news-and-events/news-details/76/east-mentoring-program-call-for-mentors-mentees
- https://www.womensurgeons.org/in-practice/mentorship/