Mentoring Success Stories
Barbara E. Barnes, MD, MS, and Carolyn Cidis Meltzer, MD
Department of Medicine Women in Academic Medicine Task Force
School of Medicine
For women in academic science, seeking out—and in turn providing—quality
mentoring relationships can be difficult, especially in more traditionally
male-populated areas of study. With research, clinical, classroom,
and very often more significant family pressures, many women in academics "find
themselves just worrying about how to get through the day," according
to 
Barbara
Barnes, assistant vice chancellor for continuing education in the
health sciences and associate dean for continuing medical education
in the School of Medicine.
Charged with quantifying this anecdotal evidence, through the "Women in Academic Medicine Task Force" both Barnes and Carolyn Meltzer, vice chair of radiology research, chief of the Division of Neuroradiology and associate professor of radiology and psychiatry, have worked to establish and address, at an institutional level, the professional development and mentoring needs of junior women faculty and researchers. As high-achieving academic professionals, Barnes and Meltzer both credit their individual long-term mentors as being crucial to their own success—and are working diligently to support the career development of up-and-coming women scholars.
