Women in Medicine Interest Groups Across the Educational Continuum: A Narrative Review and Toolkit for Institutional Implementation

Women in Medicine (WIM) interest groups can provide collaboration and support for the professional development of women as they navigate the gender inequities that persist in the healthcare workplace. This narrative review assesses successful methods used by multiple institutions to form groups and toolkits catered to women's empowerment. Medical career education was stratified into three levels: Pre-Medical, Graduate, and Post-graduate Medical Education. Keyword literature search on peer-reviewed platforms including Google Scholar, PubMed, OVID, Ebsco, and gray literature (i.e. medical societies toolkits) was used to identify applicable articles. We aimed to develop a toolkit derived from literature findings consisting of a list of ten steps for creating and maintaining a successful WIM group based on successful measures reported in the literature. Mentorship, adequate resources, administrative supportive efforts, networking, and safe spaces were found to be essential to career growth for women on each of the pre-established educational levels.