Women Physicians and Promotion in Academic Medicine.

BACKGROUND: In 2000, a landmark study showed that women who graduated from U.S. medical schools from 1979 through 1997 were less likely than their male counterparts to be promoted to upper faculty ranks in academic medical centers. It is unclear whether these differences persist. METHODS: We merged data from the Association of American Medical Colleges on all medical school graduates from 1979 through 2013 with faculty data through 2018, and we compared the percentages of women who would be expected to be promoted on the basis of the proportion of women in the graduating class with the actual percentages of women who were promoted. We calculated Kaplan-Meier curves and used adjusted Cox proportional-hazards models to examine the differences between the early cohorts (1979-1997) and the late cohorts (1998-2013). RESULTS: The sample included 559,098 graduates from 134 U.S. medical schools. In most of the cohorts, fewer women than expected were promoted to the rank of associate or full professor or appointed to the post of department chair. Findings were similar across basic science and clinical departments. In analyses that included all the cohorts, after adjustment for graduation year, race or ethnic group, and department type, women assistant professors were less likely than their male counterparts to be promoted to associate professor (hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.74 to 0.78). Similar sex disparities existed in promotions to full professor (hazard ratio, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.74 to 0.81) and appointments to department chair (hazard ratio, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.54). These sex differences in promotions and appointments did not diminish over time and were not smaller in the later cohorts than in the earlier cohorts. The sex differences were even larger in the later cohorts with respect to promotion to full professor. CONCLUSIONS: Over a 35-year period, women physicians in academic medical centers were less likely than men to be promoted to the rank of associate or full professor or to be appointed to department chair, and there was no apparent narrowing in the gap over time. (Funded by the University of Kansas Medical Center Joy McCann Professorship for Women in Medicine and the American Association of University Women.).

Interfacial effects on the optical behavior of Ge:ITO and Ge:ZnO nanocomposite films.

Nanophase semiconductors are of interest for their unique, size-tunable solar spectral absorption characteristics as well as their potential to contribute to the improved energy conversion efficiency of photovoltaics (PV). Embedding these nanoparticles within electrically active transparent conductive oxides (TCO) can also provide an opportunity for enhanced, long-range carrier transport. However, differences in the atomic and electronic structure, dielectric behavior, and chemistry between the matrix and semiconductor phases highlight the influence of interfacial effects on the optical absorption properties of the composite. In this work, nanocomposites of Ge:indium tin oxide (Ge:ITO) and Ge:ZnO were fabricated with sequential RF-magnetron sputtering and annealed at temperatures from 310 to 550 °C to investigate the impact of matrix identity on this interface and its contribution to nanostructure-mediated optical absorption. Transmission electron microscopy showed a decrease in Ge nanocrystal size relative to the initial semiconductor domain size in both matrices that was correlated with an increase in absorption onset energy after annealing. The effect was particularly pronounced in Ge:ITO composites in which Raman spectroscopy indicated the presence of germanium oxide at the semiconductor-ITO interface. These results support the primary contribution of carrier confinement in the Ge nanophase to the shifts in absorption onset energies observed.

Offering the full range of contraceptive options: a survey of interest in vasectomy training in the US family planning community.

OBJECTIVE: To assess current practices regarding female and male sterilization counseling and provision, as well as determine interest in providing vasectomy among family planning specialists. METHODS: Members of the US-based network of family planning fellowship physicians (current fellows, graduates and faculty) received a Web-based survey from November 2015 through January 2016 regarding current sterilization preferences and practices, as well as interest in obtaining training in vasectomy counseling and procedure. RESULTS: Nearly 60% (n=178/302) of family planning fellowship providers responded to the survey. While 62% (111/178) of respondents reported counseling their patients about vasectomy at least most of the time and 57% (102/178) recommended vasectomy over female sterilization, few (8/178; 4 trained in family medicine and 4 trained in obstetrics and gynecology) had performed a vasectomy in the last year. Nearly 90% (158/178) of respondents were somewhat or very interested in receiving training on vasectomy counseling; 58% (103/178) desired procedural training. Desire for training was associated with being male and receiving residency training in family medicine. CONCLUSIONS: Few family planning fellowship physicians provide vasectomy, and the majority expressed being at least somewhat interested in receiving further training. IMPLICATIONS: Vasectomy is more effective, safer and less expensive than female sterilization but is less common than female sterilization. One barrier to vasectomy access is the low number of vasectomy providers. Creating a structured vasectomy training program through the family planning fellowship may help to increase the number of vasectomy providers.