As a young girl dreaming of being a doctor, gender equality was far from Lucy McCrum’s mind.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But closing in on her dream career she’s become aware of how important it is to address gender inequality in her chosen field.
“For me it was a bit of a shock to realise,” she said.
“I don’t know if it was the way I was raised, but gender or gender equality weren’t issues I was very aware of.
“It hadn’t ever been an issue in the past but through experiences you see the potential issues that could affect your career.”
Ms McCrum, a fifth-year medical student, and fellow students Hannah Bruce, sixth-year, and Katherine Grellman, sixth-year, are preparing for the second annual Women in Medicine night next Tuesday.
The evening will host two key speakers and a panel discussion.
The event has taken on feedback from last year and opened the discussion to the whole community, especially students considering a medical career and has included male voices on its panel.
Ms Bruce said it was an important evening for students and professionals of both genders.
She said in the past 90 per cent of medical students were males, but now that figure was about 50 per cent.
Despite this, the change in dynamics hasn’t changed the look of all specialists with some still predominately male dominated, Ms Bruce said.
“Historically inequality has been an issue of women and despite the fact there’s been a huge improvement this issue still remains,” she said.
“We hope it’s a discussion of issues relating to people working in medicine in general. It’s an opportunity to hear people’s experience of issues, their insights and how they are now.”
Ms Grellman said the night runs from 7pm at the UNSW Rural Clinical School, is open to the public and would discuss issues that affect medical staff of all genders, including mental health.
“More flexible work arrangements give anyone better mental health, you have more time to engage in things you enjoy,” she said.
“It’s relevant to women but really both genders. We need to redirect the way we view medicine as a team not individual profession and support each other and have compassion for each other’s lives and needs.”