Women in Medicine Group Offers Discussion and Solutions

Burnout, gender bias, pay gaps, career advancement, work-life balance—vital issues such as these are at the heart of the Women in Medicine group.

Formed in 2017, the group provides resources to and fosters community among students, residents, fellows, alumnae, clinicians, and faculty members affiliated with the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The group serves to inspire women to thrive and succeed in medicine, providing a platform for the discussion of common challenges and solutions around topics such as mentorship, leadership, and career pathways.

Heidi Schwarz (MD ’83, Res ’89) and Allison Ramsey (MD ’05, Res ’08)—the group’s founding co-chairs—meet quarterly with seven School of Medicine and Dentistry alumnae committee members to plan programming. Before the pandemic, the group offered in-person lectures and networking events several times each year. When COVID hit, the committee kept its momentum through virtual programming.

“During the pandemic, many women, including those of us in medicine, took on an overwhelming amount of responsibility,” says Schwarz, a professor of Clinical Neurology at URMC. “Our careers have always required us to be productive, work long hours, and provide exemplary patient care. With COVID, we found that we had to do all of that while doing more at home and in support of our families, including our aging parents and children.”

Ramsey, an allergy, immunology, and rheumatology clinical assistant professor within URMC’s Department of Medicine, says this has taken a toll on many women—regardless of whether they’re in medical school or work in education, industry, a clinical environment, or at a not-for-profit organization. “COVID has certainly reinforced how important it is to offer programs that focus on supporting women in medicine, expanding and diversifying perspectives, and informing and encouraging all who participate,” she says.

Career and work-wellness issues prompted the group to develop a four-part discussion series for 2022 and 2023 around the theme of self-advocacy. The first two virtual events featured URMC alumnae moderators plus panelists from industry, health care, and education. The third session, scheduled for July, will explore empowerment.

“Although we may come from different places, be in different stages of our careers, and serve in different roles, we are all in medicine,” says Ramsey. “We face a landscape of similar and relatable issues and benefit from drawing on each other’s wisdom and experiences.”

“We encourage all women to join our programs and community,” adds Schwartz. “There is a powerful, shared experience around which our group coalesces, and we know that the work we are doing helps so many women in our field.”

You can learn more and engage with the Women in Medicine group on The Meliora Collective (thecollective.rochester.edu), an online platform that fosters personal and professional exploration among University alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students.

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MD Alumni

1960s

Carol Nadelson (MD ’61, Res ’62) was honored for her work as Distinguished Chair in Psychiatry at a celebration hosted by Robert S.D. Higgins, MD, MSHA, president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and vice president at Mass General Brigham.

Gilbert Simon (MD ’62), a primary care physician for more than 50 years, has published Ripped Off! Overtested, Overtreated, and Overcharged, the American Healthcare Mess (published by Value-Based Health Care). Gilbert says, “I wrote my book to help the layperson understand why their health costs are going through the roof and what can be done about it.”

1970s

Note: Alumni are listed by decade, then chronologically by class year under their respective degree categories which include Resident & Fellows and PhD & Graduate Alumni.

Ruby Belton (MD ’72, Res ’74) was honored in May by the Rochester chapter of The Links, Inc., with the White Rose Friendship Award, which recognizes women of African descent or women of color within the greater Rochester community for their service, talent, friendship-oriented spirit, and overall persona.

1980s

Phillip Templeton (MD ’82), chief medical officer and co-founder of DocPanel Technologies, has released Cyberbolt (self-published), which he describes as “the result of years of work coming from a passion to ring loud an alert about medical cybersecurity—as well as to create an exciting thriller novel.”

Victoria Korth (MD ’84, Res ’03) has published her second poetry chapbook, Tacking Stitch (Finishing Line Press). She is a psychiatrist with Rochester Regional Health System and says she writes flash fiction and book reviews in addition to poetry. Korth holds an MFA from the Warren Wilson College Program for Writers and an MA in English and Creative Writing from SUNY Brockport.

Mark Eisenberg (MD ’85) a professor of medicine and director of the MD-PhD program at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, has been named a James McGill Professor of Medicine. The distinction recognizes outstanding and original researchers who are international leaders in their fields.

Lawrence Marks (MD ’85) will become the assistant dean for Organizational Health and Quality at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, effective July 1, 2023. Previously, Marks was chair of the UNC School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology, a position he held for 15 years.

School of Medicine and Dentistry

classmates Paul Strumph (MD ’86), Jeff Lyness (MD ‘82, Res ‘87), Thomas Perls (MD ’86), and James A. Schuster (MD ’86) have stayed close since graduating. Recently, they took a trip to The Hague in the Netherlands and reminisced on anatomy lessons at the medical school, this time with a Rembrandt twist featuring The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, painted in 1632.

2010s

Patrick Milord (MBA ’12, MD ’12) was part of the NYC Health + Hospitals 2022–23 fellowship class. Assigned to the Office of Managed Care and Patient Growth, he conducted his clinical practice at NYC Health + Hospitals/ Queens.

of Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU Health.

1980s

Jeff Lyness (MD ’82, Res ’87) see MD Alumni.

1990s

Steven D. Hanks (BS ‘84, MD ’89, Res ‘92) began his tenure as the newest president and chief executive officer at St. Peter’s Health Partners (SPHP) in Albany and St. Joseph’s Health in Syracuse on January 1, 2023.

2000s

Chirag P. Shah (BA ’99, MD ’04), an assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, published Financial Freedom Rx, a financial planning guidebook for physicians, with co-author Jay Sridhar, MD. It is a resource that medical students and physicians can reference throughout their careers and various stages of financial growth. “The book educates physicians on the fundamentals of financial literacy, investing, and wealth management,” Shah writes. “It might be the most important (nonmedical!) book physicians will read.” Shah teaches a seminar of the same title at Harvard Medical School during the fall semester, which is broadcast virtually to more than 20 medical schools, including ours.

Sarah Ackroyd (BA ’11, BS ’11, MD ’16) and Miles Nowak (’17 MBA) were married in Chicago last July. They were joined by friends from undergraduate and medical school. From top left are Kayla Florian, Pat Abt (BA ’11), Kevin Rhie (MD ’16), Jason Kopec (MD ’16), Jill Kulla (BA ’12), Jason Birnbaum (BS ’12, MD ’16), Meredith Boyd (BS ’12), Sarah, Miles, Sunisa Mathews (BA ’14), David Oles (BS ’14), Daniel Charen (MD ’16), Kim Bui (MD ’16), Sthuthi David (BS ’12, MD ’17), and Hanna Algattas (MD ’16)

2020s

Colleen Schneider (MA ’18, MD ’22) wrote a poem titled “2020 touch” that was published in the Summer 2022 issue of The Pharos.

Resident & Fellow Alumni

1960s

Carol Nadelson (MD ’61, Res ’62) see MD Alumni.

1970s

Camelia Lawrence (MD ’05), on February 10, 2023, became the first Black woman elected president of the Fairfield County Medical Association’s board of directors. In addition to her work as the director of Breast Surgery with Hartford Healthcare at the Hospital of Central Connecticut and Midstate Medical Center and as an assistant professor of Surgery at UCONN School of Medicine, Lawrence now leads a 231-year-old organization with nearly 1,000 members.

Ruby Belton (MD ’72, Res ’74) see MD Alumni.

Harry L. Gewanter (Res ’79, Flw ’81) of Richmond, Virginia, was inaugurated as the 202nd president of the Medical Society of Virginia at its most recent annual meeting. Gewanter is the medical director of Medical Home Plus, Inc., a nonprofit he helped co-found with Colleen Kraft, MD, FAAP, MBA, and Francine Gallagher, MEd. Gewanter is a clinical associate professor

Steven D. Hanks (BS ‘84, MD ’89, Res ’92) see MD alumni.

Michael Tracy (Res ’99) received the 2022 Laureate Award from the Wyoming Chapter of the American College of Physicians. Tracy has practiced internal medicine and pediatrics in Powell, Wyoming, since 2002. He is a co-founder of 307Health, a multi-physician direct primary care practice in Wyoming.

2000s

Babur Lateef (Res ’00), a board-certified ophthalmologist and prominent physician in northern Virginia, has been appointed by Rector Whitt Clement as chair of the Health System Board of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors.

Victoria Korth (MD ’84, Res ’03) see MD Alumni.

PhD and Graduate Alumni

1990s

Tener G. Veenema (MS ’92, PMC ’93, MPH ’99, PhD ’01) is senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Veenema was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, where she is a member of the Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness, the Disaster Research Action Collaborative, and chair of the Standing Committee for Preparedness and Response.

2010s

Colleen Schneider (MA ’18, MD ’22) see MD alumni.

In Memoriam

The School of Medicine and Dentistry expresses its sympathy to the loved ones of alumni and friends who have passed. (October 2022 to April 2023)

1956

William A. Kern Jr. passed away on Jan. 20, 2023.

1958

Hereward Seagrieve Cattell passed away on Dec. 29, 2022.

1960

William A. Peck passed away on Feb. 22, 2023, in St. Louis County, Missouri.

1961

William Angell passed away on June 20, 2022, in Tampa, Florida.

1962

William R. Crawford passed away on July 31, 2022, in San Diego, California.

1967

William P. Arnold III passed away on Dec. 30, 2021, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

1968

Dennis O’Leary (Res ’68) passed away on Jan. 29, 2023, in Kansas City, Missouri.

1974

Frederick W. Engstrom passed away on Jan. 17, 2023, in Brattleboro, Vermont.