VIDEO: Expert reviews steps for women physicians to advance careers

CHICAGO — In this exclusive video from Digestive Disease Week, Norah Terrault, MD, MPH, discusses gender inequalities within the medical work environment and the steps women can take to optimize their career path.

“The focus of our discussion ... was really about encouraging [women and underrepresented individuals] that are earlier in their careers to really utilize those tools in order to gain the advantages of being able to become leaders in their field and to have greater satisfaction with their career and career development,” Terrault said.

Terrault reviews the three focuses of her press conference presentation at DDW.

The first was career planning, in which she noted that women should consider early the path they wish to take and the kind of leadership roles they are interested in. The second regarded mentor and mentee relationships, how to make the best use of such relationships and how to handle the need to find a new mentor. Finally, Terrault discussed breaking down stereotypes and how to observe surroundings to define one’s needs toward advancement.

Disclosure: Terrault reports relationships with Gilead, AbbVie, BMS, Esai, Dynavax, Infergen, Novartis, Uptodate and Merck.