Report from Vice President for North America
Connie Newman MWIA Regional Vice President for North America
Greetings from North America! Summer seems a distant memory as temperatures drop. As noted by Karen, September is Women in Medicine month in the U.S. AMWA announced honourees of the INSPIRE Award, given by the AMWA Leadership Council to women doctors who have inspired others by overcoming obstacles, perseverance, passion/dedication to service etc.
To learn more visit the AMWA website:
https://www.amwa-doc.org/news/women-in-medicine-receive-amwa-2023-inspire-award/
AMWA in collaboration with the Women in Legacy Foundation, and with event promotion by MWIA, held its second webinar in the series: Women in Medicine: Transforming Health Care. Invited panelists were Drs. Karen Nichols and Danielle Laraque-Arena, authors and/or editors of books on leadership.
The Annual Meeting of FMWC, September 22-24 was inspiring. In her opening address, the Honorable Dr. Flordeliz (Gigi) Osler cautioned against complacency regarding abortion rights. Dr. Brian Hodges, President, Royal College of Physicians, and Dr. Kathleen Ross, President, Canadian Medical Association, talked about Physician Diversity, Access and Allies, and Leadership skills, respectively. Other topics were trans health care gaps, cardiovascular disease in women, resilience, value-based living, advocacy skills, why your brand matters, domestic violence (Keira’s law), student advocacy and Physician Advocacy to Improve Global Health (my lecture) which highlighted global advocacy strategies, violence against women, abortion rights, advocacy efforts of MWIA, Planned Parenthood Global and other organizations.
MWIA co-sponsored a side event during the UN General Assembly on global sepsis, organized by Dr. Mariam Jashi, who spoke along with Dr. Eleanor Nwadinobi. I attended Acceleration Day at the UN and learned that much more work needs to be done, including scaling up financing, to get the SDGs back on track for 2030.
March 22-24, 2024 AMWA Virtual Annual Meeting
September 26-28, 2024 FMWC Centennial Meeting, Ottawa, Canada
Fig 1. Dr. Sorosh Roshan, Ellen Ferranti, Eleanor Nwadinobi, Connie Newman, Amany Asfour during UN General Assembly meetings.
Fig 2. Drs. Kimberley Williams (President FMWC), Rummy Ross (President-elect FMWC), Kathleen Ross (President Canadian Medical Association), Shelley Ross (Canada national coordinator and past President and Secretary General MWIA) at FMWC annual meeting.