Association of Women in Rheumatology: Promoting Mentorship, Inclusivity

Contrary to what the name might suggest, male rheumatologists are welcome to join the Association of Women in Rheumatology, board president Grace C. Wright, MD PhD, said.

“We have many male members. In our research arm, one of our directors is a male Rheumatologist and clinical trialist,” Wright told Healio Rheumatology. “They just have to wear pink and purple to our meetings, that’s all. That’s the only criteria.”
This mindset is in keeping with the Association of Women in Rheumatology (AWIR) philosophy of inclusivity amid a changing rheumatology workforce. According to Wright, the increasing number of women in the profession was part of what sparked her interest in mentorship 15 years ago.
“This goes back to my own personal journey, in which I saw a paucity of mentoring across the various aspects of the way we deliver care,” Wright said. “It was evident among academics, the community rheumatologist, those who did clinical trials. I thought there could have been a better way to mentor and grow our junior faculty.”

Wright’s mentoring program provided mentees with a chance to learn more about the profession, brainstorm business plans for potential practices and discuss issues related to work-life balance.
Wright continues to maintain the mentoring relationships she formed as part of that initiative, she said. However, she noticed a more widespread need for mentorship and community among women in rheumatology, which led to the formation of AWIR 3 years ago.
“I just saw that there was a need that went beyond my locality, and a huge need in the community as our workforce shifted from male to female,” Wright said. “Those needs were not being addressed. Initially found three other women who said, ‘Yes, we’ll do this with you.’ We have now grown to a board of 11 female rheumatologists, located across the continental United States.”

Leadership development

One important aspect of AWIR’s mission is to encourage more women to seek out leadership roles. In a workforce made up of more than 50% women, Wright said less than 5% of those in leadership positions are women.
“Our goal is to train people to be leaders, to give them positions of leadership and grow them in these leadership positions within the organization, so we can have future leaders when we have a predominantly female-run workforce.”

Through the organization’s local chapters, AWIR encourages and trains younger and older physicians – to take on leadership roles. Each year, Wright said, AWIR has a leadership development series that features female leaders from multiple industries.
“These are leaders both within health care and medicine and outside of medicine, who talk about their journeys and their growth toward leadership,” Wright said. “These are people who have risen to the level of being [chief operating officer] COOs, vice presidents and presidents. They have so much to share, and we have so much to learn.”

Focus on education
Another important component of AWIR’s mission is to provide additional education to rheumatologists, as well as to nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
“Nurses practitioners and physician assistants do not have the extensive training we have,” Wright said. “We’re creating educational initiatives geared toward that specific core group, so that we can have more hands available to provide excellent patient care.”
AWIR also provides continuing medical education at its annual meeting. Wright said. Recently, the CME program, Immunology Boot Camp was introduced.
“One of my passions is the commitment to science,” she said. “We want to raise the level of understanding about all of the new therapies. We launched the Immunology Boot Camp this year to a standing-room only crowd.”

Importance of advocacy

Advocacy is an important priority of AWIR, Wright said. The group has been committed to advocating both for patients and providers. The group also mentors its members in the areas of advocacy, and encourages them to play a more active role.

“We have a strong advocacy arm, and we’re involved both at the federal and state levels, as well as the regional levels in advocating for issues as they come to light or as we foresee them,” Wright said. “Many of our members have been heavily involved in advocacy, but we’re also teaching our newer ones how to become advocates. We’re mentoring the advocates of tomorrow.”
AWIR publishes advocacy newsletters, which seek to engage rheumatologists in advocacy and address some of the obstacles and frustrations of this work. Wright said at the state level especially, the group has had an impact on issues, such as access to care and the authority to prescribe necessary medications.

“If people don’t become involved and speak up and write letters, nothing happens,” she said. “Nothing gets changed, then you have a community where you’re sort of trudging along, doing your best, but you’re getting things pushed on you and losing your energy. We have to get people ignited to engage, and help to give them an easy way to do that.”

A changing workforce

Wright said for each of these initiatives, the overarching goal is to address issues relevant to the changing rheumatology workforce. The increasing number of female rheumatologists, as well as the shifting attitudes and lifestyles of a new generation, raises important conversations about work-life balance.

“We got the gender and generational changes simultaneously,” Wright said. “Those two forces are what fueled this organization. We’re only 3 years old, and I think we have made a substantial difference.”
The message of AWIR has resonated not only in the United States, but globally. Wright said at an the recent EULAR Congress, AWIR’s booth was visited by attendees from 58 different countries. The group is also forming new partnerships with other organizations, such as the Caribbean Association of Rheumatology, and plans to travel to the next meeting of the Pan American League of Associations for Rheumatology.

As the group widens to include members from around the world, Wright said its focus on women will ultimately encompass a wider group.
“Our policy is, if you focus on the issues of women, then you focus on the issues of all,” she said. – by Jennifer Byrne

For more information:

The Association of Women in Rheumatology can be reached at 2125 Valleygate Dr., Suite 20, Fayetteville, NC 28304.

Disclosure: As president of the Association of Women in Rheumatology, Wright reports securing grant funding from various pharmaceutical companies within the rheumatology space.