Journal of women's health
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Journal of women's health · Nov 2019
Identifying Gender Disparities and Barriers to Measuring the Status of Female Faculty: The Experience of a Large School of Medicine.
Background: Women in academic medicine are not attaining parity with men in several domains. This issue is not only one of fairness; some funding agencies are requesting data on gender benchmarking. However, most published reports on gender disparities have not included examination of trends or actionable recommendations to address them. Materials and Methods: The Dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine charged the Committee on the Status of Women (CSW) with conducting a comprehensive review of gender equity. ⋯ Data were not centralized and not readily available for most domains. The CSW recommended strategies to address gender disparities and created a set of measurable recommendations to monitor progress. The recommendations include requiring detailed descriptions of departmental organizational leadership charts; diverse compositions of both search committees and applicant pools; increased proportion of female faculty in top-tier leadership positions; and transparent departmental promotions criteria and processes. Conclusions: To maintain progress, we recommend that data be readily and easily accessible from a central institutional registry rather than come from multiple sources, that data be analyzed on a regular basis, and that results be shared across the institution to ensure transparency and accountability.
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Journal of women's health · Oct 2019
A Survey of Women and Their Providers Regarding Gestational Weight Gain.
Background: Inappropriate gestational weight gain (GWG) is prevalent in the United States. About 20% of women gain below Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations; more than 50% gain above. GWG outside of recommendations is linked to poor birth outcomes and health issues for mother and baby. ⋯ Providers underestimated the proportion of their patients that gained below IOM recommendations (8.5% vs. 18.6%). Conclusions: Providers are aware of the dangers of excessive GWG and a majority of patients report receiving counseling. Providers appear more cognizant of excessive GWG and underestimate inadequate GWG. Most women are not achieving an appropriate GWG, with overweight and obese women especially likely to gain above recommendations.
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Journal of women's health · Oct 2019
Using a Community Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation to Prevent and Reduce Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV) are preventable public health problems affecting millions in the United States. The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF), an independent panel of experts that develops evidence-based recommendations based on rigorous systematic reviews, recommends interventions that aim to prevent or reduce IPV and SV among youth aged 12-24 years. Decision makers can use these findings to select interventions appropriate for their populations, identify additional areas for research, and justify funding requests.