Annual Fall Retreat

Date: Thursday, September 23

Time: 1:30-4:00pm CDT

Location: Remote

Topic: Connecting in the Midst of Disillusionment to Lead Towards Empowerment

1:30pm - 1:45pm    Session Introduction and Welcome Address 

Description: Do you feel it, too? An evolving sense of disillusionment? Are you questioning goals and priorities you have previously taken for granted or assumed to be true? Are the rules changing? As we step further into a shifting social landscape, the Center for Women in Medicine and Science invites you to join together to pause and reflect on how the past 18 months have impacted perception, needs and priorities. This interactive virtual workshop will facilitate "checking-in" with ourselves and one another. What if you are actually the expert in the academic career that works for you?

 

Facilitated Discussion and Peer-Mentoring Space facilitated by:

Kaz J. Nelson, MD

Vice-Chair of Education, Associate Professor, 

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

 

Sade Spencer, PhD 

CWIMS Retention and Recruitment Action Group Leader 

Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology

 

Rebekah Pratt, PhD 

CWIMS Retention and Recruitment Action Group Member

Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

 

 

A series of breakout sessions meant to build further connection and empowerment over key topics. Sessions included: 

• "Continuing the Conversation: “You are actually the expert in the career and life that works for you” (Quote by Dr. Kemi Doll)" facilitated by Dr. Kaz Nelson
• "Early Pathways to Career Success: Creating Space for Connecting as Early Stage Faculty" facilitated by Dr. Sade Spencer
• "From Invisible to Invincible: Meeting the Needs of Mid-Career Women in Academic Medicine", a panel discussion facilitated by Drs. Rahel Ghebre and Heather Buum 
• "Individual-Level-Care and Coping Strategies" facilitated by Dr. Lidia Zylowska

 

 

Director, Center for Women in Medicine and Science (CWIMS)

Facilitated Discussion and Peer-Mentoring Space focused on key topics 

1. Could Engagement in Social Media Advance Your Academic and Advocacy Mission?

2. Finding and Fortifying Collaborations

3. Identifying New Mentors

4. Saying “No” as a Strategy for Saying "Yes" to What Counts

5. Networking for Social Justice: Leveraging Research and Clinical Practice/Partnerships

6. Transforming into an Anti-racist and Multicultural Organization

7. Coping with COVID-19 for Faculty

8. Coping with COVID-19 for Staff

9. Knowledge is Power: Promotion and Tenure Process

 

LOCATION: Coffman Memorial Union, President's Room 

Summary: Make your scholarly accomplishments, projects, and hard-won experience pay off for you and your CWIMS colleagues.

Summary: This session will address how innovation and entrepreneurship can dramatically increase your impact as a researcher, clinician and/or teacher, while also helping to advance an academic career. We’ll talk about the “both-and” approach that characterizes the careers of academics whose research spearheads either innovations licensed to establish companies, or the launch of successful startups. We will share case studies that illustrate the commercialization process, as well as the variety of roles that academics can play. We’ll also review strategic considerations and tactical skills required to develop an innovation out of the lab to patient/social impact. In addition, we’ll discuss commercialization and entrepreneurship resources available at the University of Minnesota, in the region, and from federal grants. Participants will have the opportunity to apply this information to your own work by developing a high-level impact plan for transitioning your innovations out of the lab to the market, as one component of a multifaceted career.

Summary: In this introspective and interactive workshop, we will discuss struggles common in academic careers such as imposter syndrome, burnout, scarcity culture, and balancing the demands of career, family and leadership. We will explore the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional aspects of resilience and examine the role of grit, growth mindset, and self-compassion in building resilience. Participants will create individual resilience plans that will include exercises where they will be called upon to dig deep and share with others.

Summary: Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.” This implores us to break free of our comfort zones and take risks as a pathway to ultimate growth and personal empowerment. Success in academic medicine often involves making personal and professional decisions that are uncomfortable, particularly for women. Part One of the workshop (30 minutes) will be a facilitated panel discussion with leaders who took risks. Part Two of the workshop (60 minutes) will use an interactive format to have each workshop participant develop a "Future History of My Career" with specific interval strategic goals. Participants will work individually to develop their envisioned “future” followed by a brief didactic on appreciative-inquiry and coaching style questions. Participants will practice those skills by queries of one another using an appreciative inquiry or coaching-style interview in groups of two. Participants will be engaged to discuss the risks involved in achieving their envisioned future and how they strategically plan to mitigate those risks. Participants will then report out on the process for a group reflection and discussion (15 minutes). At the workshop's conclusion, each participant will have developed a concrete vision of their future career, a "take-home" plan of strategic approaches to achieving their vision. Participants will agree to be accountable for that short-term (one year) goal via a brief follow-up.