Society mentors USU women in medicine
There has been growing student interest in the Women in Medicine Society, which offers support and peer encouragement for women interested in the medical field at Utah State University.
The 4-year-old organization was designed to offer peer-to-peer encouragement for women attracted to the medical field, said Stephanie Chambers, peer mentor and a senior in biology. The society has weekly meetings every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Biology and Natural Resources Building, Room 202 to discuss any issues the women have come across, Chambers said, and also volunteers for group service projects.
The group is geared toward pre-med students, Chambers said, and the purpose of the program is to help mentor younger students with women who are more advanced in the medical program.
“It is daunting,” Chambers said of the medical courses required by the university. “And it does help to have someone to go to.”
The mentoring program of the society is very effective, Chambers said, because females are more personal, try to problem-solve with one another and easily identify on a person-to-person basis.
“I think it’s really important to have the society,” said Katey Stroud, a freshman in public health. “If [the women] have the support from one another then it will help them to succeed.”
The society has 30 active members, Chambers said, and there is growing interest in it.
The university does not have many women interested in the medical field, said Susan Haddock, the pre-health professions coordinator/adviser. The number of women who pursue the medical field is much lower than the national average, Haddock said, and often it is “harder for Utah women to bridge the traditional gender roles of society with the career attitude.”
Many students enter the science field and realize the courses required are much more difficult than expected, Haddock said. Nationally, the medical field is equally competitive between both men and women, Haddock said; however, women locally do not show the same interest.
The Women in Medicine Society helps to answer women’s concerns about societal issues, Chambers said.
“The society helps the women feel more confident,” Haddock said. “It helps the girls lean on one another.”
The society also organizes guest lectures and all-women panels to come and speak with women about the medical field, Haddock said. USU wants to encourage women to pursue the medical field, Haddock said, and creating awareness of such activities offers such an opportunity.
Decreased interest for women in Utah interested in the medical field comes from the larger influences of the culture, Stroud said.
“It is disappointing because there are so many smart women here,” Stroud said.
A part of the problem for the lack of interest in the medical field is women are not aware of what careers are available, Stroud said. There are so many different medical jobs available outside of nursing or being a doctor that many students do not realize fall under the medical sciences.
The Women in Medicine Society is participating in a program called “VIDA,” Chambers said, which stands for Volunteers Involved in Development Abroad. This student-run project offers the opportunity for USU students to raise money and equipment to be delivered to the people in Peru.
-kcashton@cc.usu.edu