Two Brody faculty members appointed to national alliance on women’s health, equity
Two faculty members in the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University have been named to the 2021 Women’s Wellness through Equity and Leadership (WEL) Alliance.
Dr. Amanda Higginson, clinical associate professor for the Department of Pediatrics and interim director for accreditation, Office of Graduate Medical Education; and Dr. Juliana Jaramillo, who will join ECU as a clinical associate professor for emergency medicine on July 18, were appointed to the 18-month program that provides early- to mid-career female physicians opportunities for networking, mentorship and training in areas of leadership, equity in medicine and wellness.
The WEL Alliance is launching the second phase of an initiative developed to create more equitable work environments for women physicians. This includes expanding the number of national medical organizations and participants to better represent physicians who have historically been marginalized and excluded.
Dr. Amanda Higginson
Dr. Juliana Jaramillo
The alliance is funded by The Physicians Foundation and is a collaborative effort whose partners include 10 U.S. medical associations: the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American College of Physicians (ACP), American Hospital Association (AHA), American Medical Association (AMA), American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), American Psychiatric Association (APA), National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) and National Medical Association (NMA).
The appointments of Higginson and Jaramillo mean that Brody holds two of the 2021 cohort’s 50 spots for the highly selective WEL program.
“It is truly an amazing opportunity, and I am honored to have been selected to be among this group of accomplished strong women,” Jaramillo said.
The virtual program kicked off in April, and the 18-month curriculum will run through September 2022.
“We had our first two meeting days already, and I was absolutely amazed at the incredibly intelligent, motivated, thoughtful and creative women physicians who will be part of WEL with me for the next 18 months,” Higginson said. “I cannot wait to network with and learn from them, develop my leadership skills and do a deeper dive into the wellness and equity issues facing women physicians today.”
Higginson said that in addition to learning through the experience, she hopes to also provide unique input on providing health care in a rural area.
“I hope to bring my unique perspective of working at a medical school/hospital in a largely rural area, where I encounter health and health care disparities in my daily clinical primary care practice, as well as my experience as a former dean in academic medicine and current experience within graduate medical education to the table,” she said.
Jaramillo explained that the program will allow her to identify an area of interest and provides support to develop ideas and projects related to that.
“My primary interest is being a clinical educator as well as working to increase diversity,” she said. “I have been very active and plan to continue my involvement with the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) as well as the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA).”
WEL is led by a steering committee composed of leader representatives from these 10 organizations, as well as the executive director of Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM).
“The WEL Alliance is a remarkable consortium of 10 major medical organizations,” said Dr. Fan Tait, chief medical officer of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). “It is such a privilege to work with, and learn from, leadership from these organizations. The new WEL Scholars are dedicated, passionate and talented, and will help improve and change the face and culture of medicine for all.”
The Alliance’s goals are to change a culture of medicine in which women physicians can face discrimination, salary inequities and structural barriers to their success.
“There is implicit bias in the systems and structures built within medicine, because unfortunately women were not at the table when they were originally developed,” said Dr. Gary Price, president of the Physicians Foundation. “The Physicians Foundation is proud to partner with these outstanding organizations to advance equity for women physicians while supporting their overall wellbeing and growth as leaders in the field.”
Higginson said she looks forward to applying the takeaways from the WEL Alliance experience to make Brody a better place to learn and work.
“I cannot wait to bring all the knowledge and skills I learn back to Brody and continue to advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion within our academic medical center,” she said.
Jaramillo said she is very excited for her next chapter at ECU.
“Everyone has already been amazing and welcoming,” she said. “I plan on continuing to enhance the growth of both the pediatric emergency medicine division and the emergency department, while identifying ways to expand our diversity and inclusion efforts.”