Vincent Muratet
Reporter
Dame Anna Dominiczak, Vice-Principal of the University of Glasgow, has partnered with Jackie Taylor, the first female President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, to create the class.
The University of Glasgow is offering a female-only course this October in response to a lack of women in the medical field.
Dame Anna Dominiczak, Vice-Principal of the University of Glasgow, has partnered with Jackie Taylor, the first female President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, to create the class. “Developing Female Medical and Academic Leaders” will include personal leadership coaching, development, mentoring and networking opportunities throughout the eight-month course.
About 25% of medical directors and 15% of university medical professors are women, according to an article by The Times. At the University of Glasgow, around 20% of professorial posts are held by women, and only 36% of NHS consultants are female.
Despite more than half of all medical students being female in many universities, Dominiczak told The Times that the number of women declines significantly as they move to the top of the profession.
“Hopefully, with the right support and guidance, we can nurture talented female clinical academics into the world-changing healthcare leaders of tomorrow,” Dominiczak said in a statement to the University of Glasgow.
Final year medical student, Hannah Patterson, was asked what she thought of the new course: “I think it makes sense that this course is only open to women; however, opening a leadership course only to women creates a certain idea that women require different leadership skills than a man in a similar position, which is problematic.
“I am pushing for the medical profession to be an equal one, and in my own personal opinion, female-only classes do not encourage this. Classes should be genderless – as should the community as a whole be. Offering female-only classes or training programmes is reductive.”
Third year medical student, Laura Burgos, was similarly sceptical: “I don’t think it will have that big an impact in the number of women in top positions in medicine, but it can cause a lot of controversy within the University.”
Applicants must be qualified dentists, surgeons, or doctors, within 15 years of their Certificate of Completion of Training. Additionally, applicants must be a Fellow or Member of the RCPSG and/or an employee of the University.
