Creation of a sustainable longitudinal women in Leadership Development (WILD) curriculum focused on graduate medical education trainees

Abstract

Background: Although women comprise the majority of medical students, gender disparities emerge early and remain at the highest levels of academia. Most leadership courses focus on faculty or students rather than women graduate medical education (GME) trainees. Aim: To promote the leadership development of women GME trainees through empowerment, community building, networking and mentorship, and concrete leadership skills development. Setting: University of California, San Francisco. Participants: 359 women residents and fellows from 41 specialties. Program description: A longitudinal curriculum of monthly workshops designed to support leadership development for women trainees. Sessions and learning objectives were designed via needs assessments and literature review. Program evaluation: A mixed-methods evaluation was performed for 3 years of WILD programming. Quantitative surveys assessed participant satisfaction and fulfillment of learning objectives. Structured interview questions were asked in focus groups and analyzed qualitatively. Discussion: 23% of invited participants attended at least one session from 2018 to 2021, despite challenging trainee schedules. Surveys demonstrated acceptability and satisfaction of all sessions, and learning objectives were met at 100% of matched sessions. Focus groups highlighted positive impact in domains of community-building, leadership skills, mentorship, and empowerment. This program has demonstrated WILD’s longitudinal sustainability and impact for women trainees.