the American Medical Women’s Association

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) is the oldest, national multi-specialty association for women in medicine. It was founded in 1915 by Dr. Bertha Van Hoosen at a time when women physicians numbered less than 6% of the physician population. From the outset, some questioned the need for a separate organization for women, but when World War I broke out and women physicians were turned away for service by the U.S. military, AMWA became a platform for the unified voice of women physicians. This work laid the foundation for the American Women’s Hospitals Service (AWHS), AMWA’s longest lasting program. AWHS began as humanitarian relief efforts in the war-ravaged areas of Europe and has continued since to provide aid most recently through raising funds for Ukraine, Pakistan, and Turkey relief efforts. Learn more about the founding of

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AWHS through the short documentary, At Home and Over There, American Women Physicians in WWI.

Over the next few decades, AMWA would grow as an organization and advocate for equitable opportunities for women in medicine. Because many hospitals would not take on women for post-graduate practice, AMWA’ published lists of female-friendly programs. AMWA also worked to improve women’s health, including support of the 1921 Sheppard Towner Act that would lay the foundation for maternal and prenatal care programs which still exist to this day.

Throughout this time, AMWA’s mission was to advance women in medicine and improve women’s health. As such, AMWA played a key role in the 1990s in promoting women’s health as a specialty and ensuring the integration of women’s health education within medical school curricula. In more recent years, this focus has broadened to encourage an approach to medical care within a sex and gender lens.

With the increasing numbers of women entering the medical profession, now comprising just over 50% of matriculating students, one might assume that the work of AMWA is finished. But in fact, organizations like AMWA are needed more than ever before.

Take leadership. For over two decades, there has not been significant change in the leadership gender gap within the top tiers of academic medicine. Likewise, women attain less than 30% of the top positions in healthcare leadership overall, and the number of women from underrepresented groups is far lower. There is still much to be done to address pay disparities, gender and sexual harassment, implicit bias, and occupational gender segregation.

AMWA’s goal is to support women in medicine at every stage of their career, by providing mentorship, sponsorship, advocacy, education, and mentoring. In addition, AMWA works with a broad coalition of strategic partners ranging from academic institutions, government agencies, industry, and media—with a goal of uniting women physician leaders across all sectors. AMWA’s current initiatives have also expanded to include public health campaigns against gun violence, human trafficking, opioid addiction, nutrition, and obesity prevention—in addition to our signature leadership development programs, AMWA Elevate and AMWA Evolve, and our longstanding work in gender equity.

As an association within the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA), AMWA promotes awareness of global health issues. During the COVID-19 pandemic, AMWA hosted a series of webinars bringing together women physicians from around the globe to discuss strategies for COVID-19 mitigation and prevention. AMWA membership confers membership in MWIA and access to a global network of professional colleagues.

For over a century, AMWA has been the vision and voice of women in medicine. We work at the forefront of women’s health, reproductive rights, sex and gender specific medicine, and women’s leadership, equity, and advancement. A growing portion of our membership also includes our allies in this work—and as such, membership is open to all genders.

Learn more at amwa-doc.org.