Women in medicine network takes off

12 April 2017

Women in medicine network takes off

Nearly 3500 women doctors practising in New Zealand, or soon to be, have joined an online network since it was established in February.

The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) set up the Facebook group ‘NZ Women in Medicine’ following ground-breaking research which showed women hospital specialists were significantly more likely to experience burnout (http://www.asms.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Tired-worn-out-and-uncertain-burnout-report_166328.pdf).

ASMS Deputy Executive Director Angela Belich says women delegates to the ASMS Annual Conference last November expressed a desire for a network of women doctors to provide support, advice, mentoring and collegial discussion.

“ASMS responded to that call by establishing a closed Facebook group for women doctors, whatever their age or stage of medical career,” she says.

“The group is open to medical students, GPs and specialists working in hospitals, as well as women doctors who have worked in New Zealand and are now based overseas but who wish to retain their New Zealand medical connections.”

She says the group’s rapid growth in membership shows it is filling a need.

One of the moderators for the online group, Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist Dr Alison Barrett, says the Facebook group is already providing valuable support to members.

“Hearing about the burnout research and realising that our colleagues were struggling made many of us wonder what practical action we could take to help each other,” she says.

“One of the suggestions was to reach out to each other via social media. Connection is a powerful tool to fight burnout and social media is a great way to connect.

“In our short time we have already had some great heartfelt discussions about work-life balance, and important validation of just how many women doctors are finding it difficult to balance family responsibilities and their work. It’s also been really inspiring to hear about the different ways women are carving out their careers.”

An article about the women in medicine network is available in the quarterly ASMS magazine, The Specialist (p7, https://www.asms.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/11378-The-Specialist-Issue-110-WEB.pdf).

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