AAMC recognizes women in medicine, including Williams

Dr. Janet F. Williams, associate professor of pediatrics at the Health Science Center, received the Liaison Officer Service Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recently.

The AAMC presented the award to seven women nationwide, including Dr. Williams, in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of its Women in Medicine Program. These honorees were recognized for fostering enduring institutional improvements on behalf of women at their medical centers. Dr. Williams was nominated by the medical dean's office for her work to promote scholarships for students and professional career development for faculty.

"We are proud of Dr. Williams' efforts to increase opportunities for women at every stage of their medical education or academic careers," said Dr. Steven A. Wartman, executive vice president for academic and health affairs at the Health Science Center and dean of the School of Medicine. "She has served as an effective role model."

When the Women in Medicine Program was established in 1976, fewer than one-fourth of U.S. medical school students were women, according to the AAMC. Today, that number is nearly half. Women constitute 51 percent of the current enrollment in the Health Science Center's School of Medicine (422 women of a total of 829 students).

Dr. Jordan J. Cohen, AAMC president, said the quarter-century anniversary is "a major milestone for a pioneering program. Through its publications, educational offerings and professional development seminars, the Women in Medicine Program has developed into a national resource, providing information to thousands of individual women, medical schools, teaching institutions, journalists and others. The program also has earned the distinction as the premier program dedicated to advancing women in academic medicine."