Hear From Her: Extraordinary Women Who Are Redefining Healthcare Leadership
September 3, 2024 | Award-winning, Health Equity, Leadership, Women in healthcare, healthcare, podcast
That’s a wrap for Season 2 of Medscape Education’s Award-Winning Podcast Series, Hear From Her: Women in Healthcare Leadership! (Not to worry, Season 3 is just around the corner.) And it was huge! Close to 84,000 listeners from around the world tuned in, on Apple, Spotify, and Medscape, to hear conversations with some extraordinary leaders — accomplished, fearless, passionate women who are leaving big footprints in the medical world… and making a difference in our world.
A few themes echoed throughout the conversations over the Season’s 11 episodes addressing the biggest gaps in women’s health care today, one of which is that our understanding of almost all diseases and care pathways are based on studies done on men.
“There’s been very limited representation of women in clinical trials,” says Bharati Shivalkar, Senior Medical Director, Global Medical Affairs and Rare Cardiology at Pfizer, in Episode 3. “That’s what I mean when I say, A Woman Should Not be Treated as a Small Man!” And that needs to change. As the episode with the most unique visits this season — more than 25,000 and counting! — that phrase clearly caught the attention of our listeners.
Getting more women into clinical trials is important for dermatology research, says Melinda Gooderham, MD, Medical Director of the SKiN Centre for Dermatology in Peterborough, Canada. As with many healthcare issues, skin conditions affect men and women differently, and improving treatment options for women is dependent on equal representation in clinical studies. Mercedes Diz, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Board Member at Almirall and our other guest on Episode 10, says the pharma industry is mindful about the struggle to include more women, and women of color, into its research, which can be challenging for many reasons.
Abigail Epstein, Head of Communications and Patient Advocacy at Takeda, in the UK and Ireland, agrees, adding. “You fundamentally cannot manufacture medicines for the good of the whole population if … that gender diversity and inclusion isn’t there.” In Episode 6, she and Lucy McKay, MD, Chief Executive Officer at Medics4RareDiseases, share stories about their advocacy leadership roles and shine a spotlight on the need for more education about rare diseases — which are less rare than you might think.
In addition to achieving gender parity in research studies, closing the gap in women’s health care also means educating clinicians about gender differences across all medical specialties and making sure they know the right questions to ask their patients. That was another thread running through the conversations: Do clinicians have the tools and information they need to truly understand women’s health?
In Episode 1, “Evaluating the Forces Shaping Women’s Healthcare,” Jodi Abbott, Medical Director of the Education Center for Curriculum and Outreach at the American Medical Association, and Jane Delgado, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, shared a shocking statistic: According to a 2022 Kaiser Family Foundation study, close to 20% of women in the United States ages 18 and older reported their health as fair or poor. Out of 168 million women, that’s a lot of women who feel less than well. What changes need to happen to improve women’s health — and their quality of life? And are doctors equipped to guide them?
“Once you get through the door, does your provider hear you?” asks Delgado “Does that person have the tools to understand women’s health?”
It’s a valid question, says the AMA’s Abbott, because “women’s complaints are much less likely to be listened to, and they end up being underdiagnosed and undertreated for most conditions. There’s a mismatch between the hopes and expectations of many people who enter the [healthcare] system and how most physicians are trained.” As education is Medscape’s mission we were thrilled to offer their insights to clinician-listeners around the globe.
With a global perspective in mind, Ophira Ginsburg, Senior Advisor for Clinical Research at the National Cancer Institute Center for Global Health at NIH, and Verna Vanderpuye, Senior Consultant at the National Center for Radiotherapy
Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, in Accra, Ghana, shared their findings from Women, Power, and Cancer: A Lancet Commission, whose purpose was to draw attention to the global inequities that women face with respect to cancer care.
In 2020 alone, 1 million children lost their mothers to cancer, says Ginsburg. “And that number is obviously horrifying.” In many cases those premature deaths could have been prevented if the women had access to what we consider standard prevention and early detection protocols. Listen in to Episode 2 to learn the 10 priority actions they recommend to make inroads into changing cancer patient outcomes.
Perhaps the most poignant and profound theme throughout all 11 conversations was these leaders’ commitment and determination to shift the focus in medicine to patient-centricity, where patients’ unique needs, lived experience, and lifestyle preferences are addressed. Amplifying the patient voice — their personal experiences around their disease or condition and the issues they’re facing — and creating an environment where patients are acknowledged, listened to, and respected, not only ensures they get the best care aligned with their priorities, but also provides valuable insights for clinicians moving forward.
This emerging paradigm shift in medicine dovetails perfectly with Medscape Education’s own patient-centricity initiative, led by one of our hosts, Victoria Harvey-Jones, Associate Director of Clinical Strategy at Medscape Oncology Global. Harvey-Jones collaborated on a White Paper with Lorna Warwick, CEO of The Lymphoma Coalition and a guest on Episode 4, along with Anne-Marie Baird, President of Lung Cancer Europe. (You can read the paper here.) These 2 formidable OR powerhouse leaders in patient advocacy spoke about how data-driven research forms the backbone of their recommendations, whether to policy makers or pharma execs, and how it’s helped them begin to overcome the old-fashioned view of patient advocates.
Many people see advocacy as a soft space to be in, says Baird. And still think of it as organizing cookie drives for the cancer clinic. (Not that there’s anything wrong with cookies! she adds.)
“I’ve been in conversations that if you’re talking about advocacy, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s lovely. I’m just going to tick my box here and say I spoke to you.’ But then something else comes up and you say, ‘Actually, yeah, I’m also a [PhD] cancer researcher.’ Then they’re like, ‘Oh, oh, oh.’ It really bugs me that you have to come with some sort of background or title in order for them to take you seriously!”
All of the accomplished, inspiring guests in Season 2 are passionate about improving women’s healthcare, which requires a 360-degree, holistic approach: looking at women’s health throughout their entire lifecycle, focusing on the nuances of female biology, and ensuring that both clinicians and patients are equipped with the education and knowledge they need. Medscape Education is proud to be working with these extraordinary women who working to make healthcare equitable, and are making a difference.
If you haven’t already listened, catch up on Season 1 and 2 here:
Apple: https://bit.ly/4feNZS6
Spotify: https://bit.ly/46qxRsO
Medscape: https://bit.ly/3WHjahy
To stay up to date on the latest episodes, and other news and advances in medical education, follow us on LinkedIn.
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Medscape Education (medscape.org) is the leading destination for continuous professional development, consisting of more than 30 specialty-focused destinations offering thousands of free accredited CME and CE courses for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
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