CHICAGO — Each September, the American Medical Association (AMA) recognizes influential women physician leaders as part of Women in Medicine Month. To showcase the accomplishments of these leaders, the AMA Women Physicians Section (WPS) and the AMA Foundation (AMAF) today announced the winners of the 2016 Joan F. Giambalvo Fund for the Advancement of Women research grants.
The AMA and AMAF awards scholarships of up to $10,000 to research programs that advance the study of women in the medical profession and strengthen the AMA's ability to identify and address issues that affect women physicians and medical students.
"The grants reaffirm our commitment to increasing the influence of women physicians and advocating for women's health issues," said Patrice A. Harris, M.D., AMA Board Chair. "Since 2006, the AMA has granted 21 research awards to a variety of pivotal topics that impact me and my fellow colleagues – from flexible work options to promotion and retention of diversity in medical education. This year, the AMA recognizes two exceptional members in medical education whose work acknowledges some of the challenges women in medicine face today."
The 2016 recipients are Shobha W. Stack, M.D., PhD, and Jennifer Best, M.D., acting instructor and associate professor, respectively, in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington. Both are principal investigators for the research project, "Childbearing among physicians in training: A cross-sectional survey of trends and factors," which evaluates factors that influence the length of parental leave and assesses the impact of parental leave on resident trainee well-being and the training environment.
"I have been deeply interested in the issues that women face in medical training since undergoing my own postgraduate years as a new mother," said Dr. Stack. "With the help of the Giambalvo research grant, we will conduct the first study in more than 20 years specifically addressing present-day parental leave across medical specialties in graduate medical education."
"We are very grateful to the AMA's Women Physicians Section for granting us the Giambalvo award, but more importantly for prioritizing this research that will hopefully create a more sustainable environment for women in medicine," said Dr. Best.
Read more about this year's award recipients at AMA Wire.
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The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
