Voices for gender equity in medical physics.

1.A. Yi Rong, PhD This past year has delivered many headlines in the media with regard to gender‐based misconduct and inequity in the workplace, in publicly funded programs, and in corporate boardrooms. In reflection on our own field of medical physics, it should be noted that our AAPM leadership has devoted substantial efforts in addressing gender disparity. Among all the fields represented by the American Institute of Physics, our field may be the most gender‐equitable field of a physics specialty in North America.1 Almost every job posting on the AAPM website has a declaration of employer support toward gender equity, yet the AAPM 2017 salary survey reported 23% (574/2470) female physicists compared with 77% (1896/2470) male physicists among those who have taken the survey. Sadly, rather than an improvement in equity, we may be losing ground compared to a 2013 survey reporting 25% female vs 75% male in medical physics profession.2 What are we missing here? Are we just using the expression “gender equity” as an obligatory disclaimer for job postings, or a must‐have slogan for a leadership position? Now let's take a self‐reflection test: If you hear a statement, “Thank goodness we have a smart and reliable resident covering our routine QA. We are so short‐handed since a colleague just quit for family reasons”, was the “smart and reliable” resident you envision in this statement male? Were you picturing a female physicist quitting her job? Questions like these can help us realize our own unconscious gender biases. These biases exist in every one of us, and ultimately affect our decisions on a wide range of workplace decisions. To truly “Promote gender equity”, it requires fundamental training in overcoming conscious and/or unconscious biases, and it appears we have a major challenge in addressing them. This JACMP editorial will present four “Parallel” voices of our female colleagues, each with their own unique backgrounds and stories. Dr. Julianne Pollard‐Larkin recently published a piece in the ASTRO 2108 Summer Newsletter titled “Medical Physics: The Most Gender Equitable Physics Specialty”.1 Her article highlighted a confirmed trend of steadily increasing numbers of women trainees in Medical Physics. She is a Physics service chief in the Thoracic Service at MD Anderson Cancer Center, the chair for AAPM's Diversity and Inclusion subcommittee, and she graduated from MD Anderson's Medical Physics residency program nearly a decade ago. Over the course of her career and training, she has seen the evolution of gender equality at two major academic institutions and within AAPM and has some ideas on the best way to promote gender equality in our field. Dr. Kelly C. Paradis (nee Younge) earned her Ph.D in Physics in 2010 from the University of Michigan, studying the use of Rydberg atoms for quantum information processing. She completed her residency in clinical and academic medical physics at University of Michigan in 2013. Dr. Paradis worked as a staff medical physicist for Trillium Health Centers in Ontario, Canada, and then returned to University of Michigan where she joined the faculty in the Department of Radiation Oncology as Assistant Professor. Dr. Paradis has authored and co‐authored 29 peer‐reviewed papers, and has a strong interest in patient safety, risk analysis, peer mentoring, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) topics. Dr. Jean Moran is Professor and Co‐Director of Physics at the University of Michigan, Associate Director of the Michigan Radiation Oncology Quality Consortium, and Chair of the AAPM's Therapy Physics Committee. She has been a tireless advocate for gender equity throughout her career. In 1990, she served as an undergraduate on a Provost committee on sexual harassment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a graduate student at the University of Michigan, she served on a medical school committee on Diversity and Professional Development. Throughout her career, she has been a mentor and sponsor to women and men in medical physics. In 2010, she was a founding member of the AAPM's Women's Professional Subcommittee.1 She spoke on gender equity in Medical Physics at Argonne National Laboratory in 2017. She is active in clinic service, leadership, research, and teaching. Dr. Mary K. Martel is Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Physics in the Division of Radiation Oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She has held top leadership roles as President and Chairwoman of the AAPM Board, and chair of Science Council for ASTRO. With Dr. Jean Moran, she organized a panel at the 2009 AAPM annual meeting “Professional Development for Women in the AAPM”. The Women's Professional Subcommittee of the AAPM was formed shortly after, and an annual Women Physicists Luncheon at the AAPM meeting is a successful forum for networking. One of Dr. Martel's passions is mentorship and she is proud to be a mentor to many successful male and female faculties.