University of Utah
I have been fortunate to have strong, powerful women supporting me in my career and I want to be that support to my current and future colleagues. I am applying to be a Member-At-Large for the Governing Council of the WIO Section of the AAO-HNS. I am currently a member of the WIO Research and Survey Committee. I am the senior mentor for a project investigating the current state of the sponsorship of women in otolaryngology that was awarded a WIO Endowment Grant this year. I have also been the senior mentor for multiple other studies assessing gender differences in operating room staff utility, billing, value of care provided, and use of sponsorship. I have worked with our WIO groups at my previous and current institution to bring together our female trainees and faculty to discuss pertinent topics and build camaraderie.
My goal is to understand where we stand as women in otolaryngology within the spectrum of practice, inside and outside the hospital, so that we can identify areas of strengths and areas of improvement. I would like to work toward combining data from our members’ institutions regarding referral patterns as compared to our male counterparts. This piece of data is arguably one of the starting points to the gender pay gap that is current and real. For those who have significant others and children, an event understanding their experience in relation to having a parent/significant other as a surgeon would shed light onto the impact we have on our loved ones. I would love the opportunity to be a Member-At-Large and be able to work with the motivated members of WIO and the rest of the Governing Council to continue to create inclusive and supportive events and use research to guide practice changes through the AAO-HNS. I am committed to this endeavor and hope that is conveyed through this application.
Previous/Relevant Experience: Member of WIO Research and Survey Committee; Initiated a pilot surgical coaching program for the women in our otolaryngology department; University of Utah School of Medicine Coach for first year medical students; Mentor for institution’s WIO group; Co-Chair for regional meeting (event planning)
