Less than 15% of physicians in Obstetrics and Gynecology are born overseas, negatively affecting the state of diversity in a field where cultural competency is critical in ensuring the best possible care for all patients. Even more concerning, physicians born outside the United States continue to face incredible barriers to entering the field. Rooted in its commitment to achieving health equity, Wayne State University’s Office of Women’s Health (OWH) strives to improve women’s health across all eras of a woman’s life, while improving the representation of women in STEM fields. In an effort to bring more cultural diversity to the medical field, OWH’s Post-Doctoral Visiting Program for Foreign Physician Program is looking to provide freshly-graduated physicians from the Arab world an entry point for pursuing a career in women’s health medicine in the United States by placing them in a cross-collaborative research fellowship opportunity at Wayne State University. In order to make this career-transformational opportunity possible for a physician from the Arab world, the Women’s Health International Scholars (WISH) Fund, housed at the Center for Arab American Philanthropy (CAAP), will need to raise $50,000 to cover the cost of transportation, housing, salary and more for the selected fellow. By uplifting physicians from the Arab world, this program will ultimately serve as a diversity pipeline and advance the field of women’s health forward to become more reflective of communities of all cultures and backgrounds.
More on the Office of Women’s Health
Wayne State University’s Office of Women’s Health (OWH) strives to improve women’s health across all eras of a woman’s life: infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, pregnancy, the transition from pregnancy to maturity and aging.
The Office is based on five pillars – through which implementation of programs is focused:
- Research and Development
- Education and Health Literacy
- Implementation Science
- Policy and Healthcare access
- Women in the STEM fields
The OWH endeavors to achieve health equity and promote optimal health in women in urban areas such as Detroit through a multi-pronged approach that focuses on delivering evidence-based medicine, providing community-level interventions, and improving the representation of women in STEM fields.