Lorenz, Amanda K.

Objective: To gain firsthand accounts from female physician leaders in academic medicine to better understand the challenges and success factors they have encountered in order to provide insights to early-career female physicians and inform organizations about the challenges faced by female physicians to build better systems and processes to support them in achieving more satisfying and fulfilling careers within an academic setting. Method: This qualitative research study is based on interviews with female physician leaders. Participants were selected based on their scores in multi-rater leadership assessments taken within the past three years, all ranking in the top 30% across four capabilities: Inspiring Values, Engaging Colleagues, Bold and Forward Thinking, and Driving Results. Coding and thematic analysis were used to categorize the challenges and success factors. Results: Data analysis revealed challenges experienced by these female physician leaders, including gender bias, time constraints, family responsibilities, change and innovation, self-doubt, and exclusion from networking. The strategies identified for navigating these challenges and achieving high performance included support from family and colleagues, building relationships and networking, maintaining a positive attitude, making powerful choices, seizing opportunities, finding value, meaning, and purpose, continuous learning, strategic planning, and gaining recognition. Conclusion: Challenges for female leaders in academic medicine are prevalent and evolve alongside changes in health care. Success factors can be generated at an individual level, such as attitudes, making powerful choices, and networking. However, societal and organizational support, including assistance with family responsibilities and providing opportunities, feedback, and mentorship, has also been identified as crucial.

Objectives Early in the pandemic, institutional leadership recognised the importance of providing staff with practical, clinically based communication resources. This paper describes the process of cultivating and disseminating rapid communication resources across a multisite institution to assist others who may need to rapidly respond to communication challenges in the future. Methods In April 2020, the Mayo Healthcare Incident Command System charged the Center for Palliative Medicine with developing and disseminating clinical communication resources within several weeks. The Education Chair for the Center for Palliative Medicine created a COVID-19 communication task force composed of clinician-educators with expertise in serious illness communication from all three academic Mayo Clinic sites. The task force elected to focus on providing accessible, just-in-time online content curated from existing resources and adapted to situational needs. Results The task force developed one-page resources with example language on 16 topic areas. Topics included exploring patient values, discussing time-limited trials and making recommendations. The COVID-19 communication website was launched on 28 May, 6 weeks after the institutional request. Conclusions Key takeaway lessons were the need for: (1) alignment with institutional need and priority, (2) rapid team formation with communication education experts across a variety of institutional geographic settings, (3) quick consensus on topic and content delivery to be practically helpful to clinicians, (4) collaboration with outside groups to use and adapt already available resources when possible and (5) early and iterative involvement with information specialists to help facilitate institutional dissemination.