International Women’s Day — Celebrating Women at the Helm of Healthcare
When Elisabeth Paulie Pickett received her board certification in 1955, she became the first woman to be certified as a Urologist.1 A few years prior in 1947, Jane C. Wright, an early female oncologist, was completing her medical training.2 She would go on to be the only female founder of ASCO, the conference that continues to gather oncology professionals from around the globe for the presentation of oncologic discoveries.
By 1985 — thirty years after Pickett received her certification — there were only twenty-two female urologists in the United States, and less than fifty female urologists worldwide.3 Today, the number of practicing female Urologists remains low. But a 2011 review of all board certified women urologists in the United States found that 86.8% of women in urology were satisfied with their decision to practice urologic medicine. Through surveys, the researchers concluded that urology was conducive to a fulfilling personal and professional life — disproving some of the stigmas that long discouraged women from entering the field.4
Despite the lasting paucity of women in Urology, the legacies of women like Pickett and Wright live on in the female researchers and caregivers who continue to push the state-of-the-art in research and clinical care.
Since the Nobel Prize in Medicine was established in 1901, only 21 of the total 219 awards have been presented to women.5 Their work was unprecedented and groundbreaking: the Nobel Laureates include Barbara McClintock, who won for her work discovering transposable elements, Elizabeth Blackburn, who made key findings about the telomere at the tip of a chromosome, and most recently Tu Youyou, whose work on anti-malaria drugs has helped treat millions of people.
Modern medicine would not be what it is today without these and countless other advancements made by women in research and clinical care — those recognized here, and other female scientists around the globe.
In 2019, Alicia Morgans, MD, sat down with four key leaders in the prostate cancer field: doctors Himisha Beltran, Lorelei Mucci, Karen Knudsen, and Amina Zoubeidi to discuss their efforts to promote women in the field of prostate cancer research during the Prostate Cancer Foundation 2019 meeting. “It's helpful just to see people that look like you up there on that stage… we just decided that maybe it's time just to have a place where people can meet each other and learn from each other and support each other,” Beltran said during the video, speaking about the founding of the PCF's women in science forum, which featured lectures and a program for high school students aspiring to be doctors.6
In the same video, Lorelai Mucci, MD, highlighted a point from one of the forum’s keynote lectures: “One woman's success is all of our success.”
UroToday is grateful for the female physicians and scientists who support our efforts to share their cutting edge work within their fields and with the public.
Written by: Elise Ryan and Catherine Ryan, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
References:
1. Yang JH and Donat SM. Elisabeth Pauline Pickett (1918-): Opening the door for women in urological oncology. J Urol. 2007 Nov;178(5):1875-7. Epub 2007 Sep 17.
2. Weber, B. Jane Wright, Oncology Pioneer, Dies at 93. The New York Times. 2013 March 2. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/health/jane-c-wright-pioneering-oncologist-dies-at-93.html
3. Gillespie L, Cosgrove M, Fourcroy J and Calmes S. Women in Urology: A Splash in the Pan. Urology. 1985 Jan;25(1):93-7. https://www.goldjournal.net/article/0090-4295(85)90580-1/pdf
4. Marley, CS, Lerner LB. “Personal, professional and financial satisfaction among American women urologists.” Int Braz J Urol. 2011 Mar-Arpr;37(2):187-92.
5. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/
6. Prostate Cancer Foundation's Women in Science Forum Discussion - Himisha Beltran, Lorelei Mucci, Karen Knudsen, and Amina Zoubeidi. (UroToday.com)