The Women in Allergy Committee promotes involvement and adequate representation of female allergists in the College’s activities, committees and leadership.
ACAAI Women in Allergy Committee’s Resource Guide
The committee is working on a Resource Guide – a document with tips on various topics of interest to women allergists. Topics include:
- ACAAI Annual Meeting
- Childcare
- Contract negotiations
- Leadership
- Mentorship
- Work/Life balance
- Working from home
Members of the Women in Allergy Committee will be hosting Zoom chats on each topic.
Childcare
Women in medicine often face challenges when it comes to work demands and parental responsibilities, and childcare is one of these issues. Not only do we work long hours caring for patients, but our work often continues until our heads hit our pillows. We know it “takes a village” to raise our children and takes a great deal of careful planning.
Specific issues that women in medicine who have children (or are planning to have children) may face include:
- Difficulty balancing work demands and parental responsibilities (assisting with school-related requests and extracurricular activities) to avoid feelings of guilt and stress.
- Lack of quality childcare options compatible with demanding schedules.
- Discrimination or stereotypes based on their gender (e.g., RVUs, publications/grants, on-call coverage) making career advancement more difficult.
- Finding role models or mentors advising on work-life balance and in turn, modeling excellence.
