University of Michigan Medical and Nursing School - Aequanimitas Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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IMPRESSIO S: WOME as MEDICAL STUDENTS women my age and expect this to continue indefinitely. Each day usually brings more than I can realistically expect to accomplish, but that problem I share with just about everyone. It is not possible to see into the future and know the wisest course to follow. You must do considerable thinking and planning, make your decisions and believe you can achieve your goals. It certainly helps to have lots of cooperation and sup- port from those closest to you. Why is it that the percentage of women physicians is low in this country when compared with many other nations? I can make no claims for having done scientific research into this area but I have a few ideas. We begin at an early age to identify people with their jobs. Traditional images impress us with the fact that doctors are men and nurses are women. But given new images some young minds forget the more traditional approach. There are six year old twin girls in our family who basically know only two doctorsgtheir male pediatrician and their cousinm-me. At the moment, one little girl has decided to be a doctor when she grows up, and her sister believes she'l1 be a nurse and help out too. What happens to stop the girls who con- sider but do not actually seek a medical career? Perhaps for some it is the hnancial burden or a lack of true interest and deter- mination. For others it may be an unwill- ingness to delay marriage and family life as required by present training schedules. Todays young women read and hear much about their feminine imageg the image of women doctors in the past has been rather straight and narrow. Prejudice against women in medicine was once a strong fac- tor. Many of these things have changed. Probably the two things which will bring more women into the Held are these: CU the need for more physicians, and QZQ womens changing and expanding ideas of how they wish to fulfill their life's goals. joan Wake Mt '-'ui'

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Life has many roles for me as it does for my fellow medical students. Together through the past four years we have shared a variety of events and individually we have had an array of unique personal experi- ences. It has been with the objective of becoming physicians that we have been on common ground. And when we receive our degrees, ten percent of us will stand distinct as women physicians. The success with which we perform our roles as women and physicians will deter- mine the quality of our individual lives. We can not and should not try to disassociate the woman from the medical student or physician. It is our responsibility to use any special attributes we may have to bring additional quality to our work and to avoid those traits which contribute nothing. The words female medical student bring rather hxed connotations to the minds of many people. The first class meeting usually serves as a superficial way of reaffirming some of these impressions and breaking down others in the eyes of both the men and women. Then through the years the stereo- typed picture fades away and individual merit becomes the yardstick. I have felt that during the past four years my male col- leagues have treated me on an individual merit basis, and I am particularly grateful to them for doing so. This is not to say that some of the criti- A'- PERSO AL cisms voiced about female medical students are not shared by these colleagues. The most frequent and legitimate complaint they raise is whether or not the women physicians will be practicing physicians. On that count I can only be judged in one way-by what I do in the future. Another question I have been asked con- cerns whether female medical students receive any special treatment or have any advantages. The answer is yes. It does not mean that your duties are any less, but it may mean that your first day in the Operat- ing Room you are initially mistaken for a new circulating nurse. The surgeon, after the frustrations of a difficult procedure, will probably acknowledge your presence by apologizing for the curses that flew hot and heavy for awhile. There is also the occa- sional person, both medical and nonmedi- cal, whose subconscious does not quite accept women as doctors, and then it is your task to demonstrate your professional iden- tity. There are times when the empathy you feel for a patient may be more meaningful to the person because you are a woman. It is perhaps in the distribution of time that the female medical student differs most from her colleagues and comtemporaries. Both the short term and long range manage- ment of time are seemingly more involved for her and distribution depends on ones roles, priorities and interests. Life has many aspects and involves being more than just a medical student. The woman in medicine has conflicts and complications with certain responsibilities in her personal life. Iler training period and early years of practice coincide with the time she is most likely to be marrying and raising a family. Her male colleagues are usually doing the same but their responsibilities in the family are much less conflict producing and cause fewer pro- fessional complications. I can honestly say I am busier than most

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STUDE T RE EARCH Student participation in research work is becoming a significantly more prominent facet of medical education at the University of Michigan. Although student research has always been a part ofthe medical school environment, increasing amounts of money have been made available to foster research programs, and more research areas are being opened up in connection with the clin- ical departments. ln the summer of 1969 there were 120 medical students involved in full-time research work as well as 20 pre-medical students working full time with a medical school faculty member. Last summer's records show that 150 medical and 30 pre-medical students were carrying on full-time research projects at the Medical Center. When other research opportunities are added in Qthrough drug companies, other universitiesj, the number of Univer- sity of Michigan Medical Students involved in research projects grows to even larger proportions. These opportunities are available at all stages of the medical school career. There is a large program of summer research grants is at the Medical School. Pre-medical and freshmen medical students participate in projects while still undergraduates or in the summer before and after the freshman year of medical school. Rotation schedules for the upperclassmen provide larger blocks of time which may be used in research work. Fur- ther, the varied backgrounds of the medical students have enabled some to carry on research work during the school year while attending classes. A not uncommon occur- rence is for a student to withdraw from med- ical school for a year so that he might devote full-time efforts to completing a research project. The type of research work carried out by the students serves to show how significant a role research work plays in connection with medical education. Every department of the Medical School has students involved in highly specialized projects: there is student involvement at the level ofthe basic sciences, in the clinical departments, and research which transcends categorization, dealing with correlative topics, such as the computer as a tool in medical records and diagnosis. Given this overview of the student research work at the Medical School, one may well ask the question So what?,' What do these research opportunities mean for the students involved in relation to their medical education? How does student research work reflect on the Medical School? Student research is a means of recruiting people into the field of academic medicine. Involvement in a research project provides insights into the routine and environment of a professor-doctor. It is a way to test the validity of aspirations toward a career in research and teaching. The student who is certain of his career plans in academic medi- cine can find his particular sphere of interest and begin work. For students with definite career inter- ests, research opportunities have served as a springboard, enabling formal publication in medical journals. Last year five students had published enough articles to qualify for assistant professorship under current stan- dards. Many students involved in research pro- grams view the benefits in a different light. Even if one does not plan a career in aca- demic medicine, there are many fringe bene- fits related to research work. Basic to research situations is the acquisi- tion of valuable laboratory techniques, familiarity with equipment commonly employed in scientific laboratories and with skills required to collect meaningful data. A better background for understanding con- cepts presented in classes is achieved through awareness of what is involved in laboratory confirmation of a given general principle. Another important aspect in this area is the experience gained in using the library facilities and in dealing with medical literature. Learning to use the medical liter- ature is directly helpful in relation to both class work with one's eventual career work. Student research work offers excellent opportunity to establish close associations with a faculty member. The formidable 200 to one student to faculty ratio of the lecture hall is reduced to One-t0-One between the student and his faculty supervisor, and this close contact invites free and informal dis- cussions. The research advisor frequently becomes a guide and personal counselor for the student. However, just as likely, the advisor's committments may prevent the student from establishing strong rapport, leaving him on his own. This independence may be welcomed as a means of learning to be decisive and positive, or it may leave the student lost and frustrated at various points in his work. In many instances the value of the research program is related to the available time. Many of the three month summer