In 2015, disparities in salary and rank persist among full-time U.S. academic EM faculty. There were gender and URM disparities in rank and leadership positions. Women earned less than men regardless of rank, clinical hours, or training. Future efforts should focus on evaluating salary data by race and developing systemwide practices to eliminate disparities.

Although women comprise half of all medical students, the number of female academic emergency medicine (EM) physicians remains at approximately 27%. In addition, despite having equivalent credentials, female EM faculty remain underrecognized and undercompensated when compared to their male counterparts. Recent studies have shown superior outcomes among patients treated by EM physicians who are women; however, disparities in advancement persist. This white paper, prepared on behalf of the Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine, describes recent evidence demonstrating gender disparities in the EM workforce including content presented at the 2019 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting. The authors describe strategies to address the identified problems. Specific recommendations include individual as well as institutional/systems-level approaches to creating directed programming and initiatives to recruit, support, and promote women at all aspects of the career continuum.

Objectives: Organizations to promote career networking and mentorship among women are recommended as a best practice to support the recruitment and retention of women physicians; however, the impact of such organizations is unknown. Our primary objective is to describe the impact of a national woman-focused organization for academic emergency physicians on retention and advancement. Methods:We conducted semistructured interviews of past and present organization leaders, as well as members at varying stages in their careers. Physicians with experience in qualitative methods conducted interviews and coded all transcripts using inductive content analysis techniques. Themes were reviewed and discussed to ensure consensus. Results:We performed 17 interviews lasting 20 to 30 minutes each, resulting in 476 total minutes of transcript.Participants represented varying stages of career experience, ranging from 2 to 35 years since residency completion (median = 9.5 years). Median years of participation in the woman-focused organization was 10 years. Over half (53%) of participants were past presidents of the organization. The dominant themes encompassed facilitating academic advancement through scholarly productivity, leadership experiences, awards, and promotions; mentorship and sponsorship; peer support and collaborations; reduced professional isolation; and initiatives to address systemic gender inequities and challenges, including strategies to navigate bias, promote pay equity, and advocate for family-friendly workplace policies.Discussion: Active participation in a woman-focused professional organization enhances members' career retention and advancement by creating opportunities and relationships that facilitate leadership, enabling scholarly work to advance equity and inclusion, and cultivating a sense of belonging. While challenges and barriers persist, the myriad benefits of a women-focused professional organization reported by members and leaders represent important steps toward greater equity for women and other underrepresented groups in academic medicine.

Part One of this two-article series reviews assessment tools to measure burnout and other negative states. Physician well-being goes beyond merely the absence of burnout. Transient episodes of burnout are to be expected. Measuring burnout alone is shortsighted. Well-being includes being challenged, thriving, and achieving success in various aspects of personal and professional life. In this second part of the series, we identify and describe assessment tools related to wellness, quality of life, resilience, coping skills, and other positive states.

Physician well-being is a complex and multifactorial issue. A large number of tools have been developed in an attempt to measure the nature, severity, and impact of both burnout and well-being in a range of clinical populations. This two-article series provides a review of relevant tools and offers guidance to clinical mentors and researchers in choosing the appropriate instrument to suit their needs, whether assessing mentees or testing interventions in the research setting. Part One begins with a discussion of burnout and focuses on assessment tools to measure burnout and other negative states. Part Two of the series examines the assessment of well-being, coping skills, and other positive states.