Lessons Learned: Stories from Women Physician Leaders

Women physicians now comprise 50 percent or more of most U.S. medical school classes. Yet relatively few fill the most senior management positions within the healthcare system. At a time when most agree that the U.S. healthcare delivery system needs fundamental change, this book makes the case for talented women physician executives, articulate in the language of healthcare policy and business, to be among those leading the way.

In Lessons Learned: Stories from Women Physician Leaders, editor and author Deborah M. Shlian, MD, MBA, profiles 33 exceptional women physicians who have defied the odds. They share their personal and compelling stories - including obstacles and challenges faced in balancing work, family, and personal life - as their career paths take them from clinical medicine to leadership within government, academia, hospitals, provider groups, managed care, pharma, consulting, and entrepreneurial venture. The lessons they learned are relevant not only to women and are not applicable just to healthcare-they are universal.

The stories (which are actually ＂case studies＂) illustrate the trailblazing and creativity of a group of professional women who understand how to use processes and procedures to manage the complexities of large organizations and how to exercise leadership to motivate and lead others through change and uncertainty.

The women profiled are intentionally a diverse group. A couple are nearer to the beginning of their management careers, others are midway, several have reached senior-level positions, and a few are close to or have already retired. Some are married, some are not, some have children, and some have none. Some are surgeons by training, others are primary care doctors. While they work as physician managers in virtually every type of healthcare organization in the U.S., their stories share many common themes.

Lessons Learned is a distinctive resource, addressing such topics as:

• Career options after medical training.
• Leadership opportunities beyond a traditional clinical setting.
• Challenges for women in the workplace, discrimination, salary discrepancies, and different expectations.
• Role models, mentorships, and sponsorships at the leadership level.
• Work-life balance.

Bonus #1: Many chapters include a vignette about leadership and how to navigate the complex environment of an often male-dominated upper-echelon work environment. It provides assurance there is a support system in a physician’s career journey.

Bonus #2: Virtually all the women in this book are willing to mentor and share advice. They can provide a valuable resource for young physicians looking for support. Contacts are available through the editor Dr. Deborah Shlian.

From the Foreword by Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber, MD, FACP, FAMWA, president of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), ＂From these women, we can all learn that that if there is not a path, we can create one. If the path is not well trodden, we must walk it and make it passable for the next generation. If the path is narrow, we must walk with others as we widen it. None of us is on this journey alone. We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, beside those who are with us, and for those who come after us.＂