partners office for women in medicine month lecture...the title of the exhibit was “ebr005. acr...

at MGH

Partners Office for

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Office for Women’s Careers at MGH - A Resource for Women Faculty H E A L T H C A R E

Dear Colleagues:

We hope you are enjoying a relaxing summer.We are gearing up for another academic yearfull of programs and opportunities for ourwomen faculty.

By now you should have received yourbrochures for the 2004/05 Noontime LearningSeries, an exciting and educational series ofworkshops that Rebecca organizes every year.

Please mark your calendars for September27th for our upcoming lecture to celebrateWomen in Medicine Month. It promises to beenlightening. We hope you will attend.

Sincerely,

Nancy J. Tarbell, MD

Office for Women’s CareersNancy J. Tarbell, MD: DirectorRebecca Starr, MBA; MSW: Administrative DirectorBrenda I. Vega, Staff Assistant

OWC WEBSITE: http://www.massgeneral.org/womenscareers/

!

Women in MedicineMonth Lecture

SAVE THE DATESeptember 27

12 to 1:30 pm

Wellman Conference Room

See inside for flyer.

Tips from the Corporate World

about AccountabilityThe data reveal that the more accountable managers are held, the better the company is as a place of work and the better the job performance of employees. See these results from Working Mother magazine.

OW CAN YOU make the bestof your assistant’s time? Howcan you help them function as

productively as possible, without takingtoo much time out of your own day?

Every relationship between a managerand their assistant will be unique.Following are some basic principles thatmay assist you in assessing improvementopportunities.

The number one factor in productivelyworking with anyone, and especiallywith an assistant, is that the “transom”between you is tightly defined and maintained. No matter how good andtrusted your assistant may be, it needs tobe real clear whether you or he/she hasthe next action on something – who hasthe ball. One of the greatest sources offrustration is the lack of pristine clarityabout whether the assistant is supposedto be taking the next action on arrangingthe next trip, or the boss. So the rigor of maintaining our own personal self-management process becomes extracritical when there are others closelydependent on the communications andthe hand-offs. “But I thought you weregoing to ... !” is too often the result atthe back end, because the delegation orcommunication was not clear. Make surethat any communication about any situation or possible project or task isended with a very specific question: “so, what’s the next step on this, andwho has it?”

That situation is more easily managedwhen the communications are in paper oremail instead of face to face. The repositoryof in-baskets can be a nightmare if they’renot controlled, but if they are being workedappropriately, it allows communicationsto be made without the presence of theother person, in our own timing, andthere is a physical or digital object thatcan now serve as a trigger or reminderof the actions required. Voice mail canalso help, and of course dictating intomicro cassettes could be another version

of the same thing. You want to be ableto offload information, ask a question,or hand off projects and tasks as soon asthey occur to you. So the more “virtual”the tools and the habits are, the moreproductive both people will be.

This also helps improve a major glitchin office productivity – the boss randomlyinterrupting the assistant as soon there’sa need or thought. It takes more than

twice as long to finish some task if we getconsistently interrupted, and the psychicscatter and static that likely ensues isdangerous. Interruptions of a staff personshould be saved for the exceptions whereimmediate communication is reallyrequired. They’ll get tons more done inmuch less time. If face-to-face interactionis required, save it up in an “agenda” folderor list for the once-a-day or once-a-weekmeeting together that is needed to keepthe relationship clear, handle sensitive orsubtle details, and regrouping for thebigger picture view.

One detail that I often coach managerson is to stop having their assistants sortincoming mail and phone calls, exceptfor the simple “signature required” kindof category. What winds up happeningin a meager attempt at productivity isthat the assistant has to review, assessand attempt an organization of input,when the manager winds up wanting orhaving to do the same kind of review,assessment, and organization once it

comes to them anyway! The managershould be skilled enough at processinginput to not be disturbed by an in-basketwith a combination of read/review, callsto return, and mail to read. If the assistantcan be judged skilled or knowledgeableenough to read, review, and HANDLEthe input, without it ever having to getto the manager – fantastic. And youwould want to maximize their abilityand license to do that. But if it’s got tohave the manager’s eyes on it anyway,don’t duplicate the effort.

There can be exceptions to this, ofcourse. Calls to return may be sorted byan assistant into “Client calls.” “Internalcalls,” and “Personal calls,” when thereis a huge volume of them and they comein rapidly.

Interestingly, the more admin-friendlyyou as a professional are, the more youget to use your assistant to handle projectsinstead of just be secretarial. The more youcan handle your own simple communicationchores, the more you can utilize assistantsfor higher level tasks which will relieveyou of a lot more pressure. If you stillare not typing more than hunt-and-peck,and in general you are not computer-savvyyet, increasing your typing speed andknowledge of keyboard and softwarebasics will improve communication andgeneral productivity immensely. If you’remobile and have the Weird Windows ofTime that grace (or plague) us all thesedays ... where’s your laptop? or at leastyour PDA? (And make sure your assistantis equally computer-friendly. Facility withbasic applications and comfort withtroubleshooting problems and workingwith computer consultants should be jobskill requirements for hiring them. You’rereally in the pink if you find one that lovesthe new technologies and has resourcesto tap to help you out in that area.)

One of the most obvious ways to findout how to make better use of yourassistant is unfortunately one of the mostneglected – ask them! Make a special

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Tips & Tools: Assistants – Making the best use of themby David Allen

✰


H

Interruptions of a staffperson should be savedfor the exceptionswhere immediate communication is reallyrequired. They’ll gettons more done inmuch less time.

Office for Women’s Careers at MGH - A Resource for Women Faculty 3


meeting with them with the sole agenda of reviewing your protocolswith each other, and simply ask, “What are we doing that reallyworks? What are we doing that doesn’t work as well as it could?How could we improve that? What are we doing that we don’t needto be doing at all?” You must regularly keep reviewing your process,because things change, and what may have worked at one time maynow be outdated and inefficient.

And if you really want to keep a good assistant and make great useof them, let them know how they are needed and appreciated, especiallywhen it’s not necessary to let them know that.

www.davidco.com

All materials contained in any DAC Site are the copyrighted propertyof the David Allen Company. All trademarks, service marks, and

trade names are proprietary to the David Allen Company.

Dianne Georgian-Smith, MD (Radiology), above; ElizabethA. Rafferty, MD (Radiology); Eren Yeh, MD (Radiology);Helen Anne D’Alessandro, MD (Radiology); and MaryStaffa, MD (Radiology), won a Silver Medal for an electronic exhibit they submitted at the recent AmericanRoentgen Ray Society. There were over 200 exhibits andtheir award was one of only three that won a Silver Medal.The title of the exhibit was “eBR005. ACR BIRADS BreastUltrasound Lexicon: A Computerized Display.”

Susan Briggs, MD, Assistant Professor in Surgery, wasrecently awarded the COURAGE AWARD at a NewEngland Women’s Leadership Award (NEWLA) celebrationat the World Trade Center, sponsored by the Colonel DanielMarr Boys & Girls Club. The New England Women’sLeadership Awards brings together successful women fromall over Boston to recognize achievement and dedication tocommunity. NEWLA honorees have risen to outstanding

heights of achievement in their chosen field and they arealso people who give back to their communities. This eventbegan 12 years ago as a way to demonstrate to the younggirls of today what amazing female role models they have tofollow right here in Boston.Alice B. Brown, MD, PhD,Instructor in Neurology, won one of the 50th AnniversaryAwards at HMS.

Anne Klibanski, MD, Professor of Medicine, won theClifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award from HMS.

Lela Polivogianis, MD, Instructor in Medicine, was electedto the MGPO Managed Care Committee.

Theresa McLoud, MD, Professor of Radiology, was one ofthree recipients of the 2004 American Roentgen RaySociety’s highest award, the Gold Medal for DistinguishedService to Radiology.

Patricia Donahoe, MD, Marshall K. Bartlett Professor ofSurgery, recently received the Flance-Karl award at anAmerican Surgical Association meeting. The award is pre-sented to a surgeon in the United States who has made aseminal contribution in basic laboratory research that hasapplication to clinical surgery.

Lynne Levitsky, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, hasbeen named president elect of the Lawson Wilkins PediatricEndocrine Society. The society, comprised of approximately900 members, is the North American professional societyfor academic pediatric endocrinologists.

Pat O’Malley, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, hasbeen appointed to the American Association of PediatricOphthalmology Committee on Emergency Services.

UTILIZE OUR LENDING LIBRARY FOR

WOMEN FACULTY!

A list of all the books we have available is onour website at www.massgeneral.org/womenscareers.

Books may be borrowed for up to a monthat a time.

You may check out the books throughBrenda I. Vega (OWC Staff Assistant) atBulfinch 360 anytime between 8:30 and 5 pm.

CAREER/WORK-LIFE

HMS Promotion OfficeMary Clark, PhD, Associate Dean for FacultyAffairs at HMS is available to meet with facultyat the MGH site for one morning per month.She can meet with you to talk about youracademic careers, CVs, and the HarvardMedical School promotion process.

August 19 September 16October 21 November 18December 16

To schedule an hour appointment, pleasecall our office at 617-724-5229.

HMS Promotion Criteria in Writing

http://www.hms.harvard.edu/fa/handbook/purplebook

CV helpFor help with HMS F.I.R.S.T. program(your CV on the web), call Lance Kiarsis atHMS 617-432-3136

Harvard Ombuds OfficeThe Ombudsperson, Linda Wilcox, is animpartial complaint handler who strives to seethat people are treated fairly and equitably atHMS, HSDM, and HSPH. The Ombudspersonwill provide you with a safe forum to voiceyour concerns, evaluate your situation, organizeyour thoughts, assess your feelings, and decidewhat is important and relevant to your specificcircumstance. Such issues as Sexual Harassment,Racism and other discrimination, Scientific/Professional Misconduct, Intellectual Property,Ethics, Personality Conflicts, and Fear of Retaliation are safely discussed. TheOmbudsperson will be at MGH to meet with you on the following dates:

September 15 October 20November 17 December 14

To schedule an appointment, please callLinda Wilcox directly at 617-432-4040.

Employee Assistance Program at MGH

617-726-6976

The EAP is a workplace-based consultation,short term counseling, information and referralprogram for employees of MGH. The EAPhas helped thousands of employees put theirproblems in perspective and get the help theyneeded to be happy and productive. AllEAP services are strictly confidential andfree-of-charge. If you have a difficult situationthat is causing stress at work or at home, oraffects your personal health and happiness,

you may wish to contact the EAP. EAPconsultants have graduate level training ina variety of mental health disciplines. TheEAP also presents a variety of work-lifefocused workshops for hospital employees.

Harvard Medical Center Office of Work and Family

www.hms.harvard.edu/hr/owf.html617-432-1615

Offers childcare resources, elder care information and referral, lunchtime seminarson issues of concern to parents with childrenof all ages as well as those caring for aging relatives, who are attempting to balancework and family life.

Professional Staff Benefits Office atMGH/MGPO

http://is.partners.org/mgpoonline/physicianbenefits/index.htm

This office’s charge is to develop and administera high quality and cost effective employeebenefits program specific to the interestsand needs of 2000 employed ProfessionalStaff and 1500 Residents and Fellows.Programs under active management includehealth and welfare benefits, pension benefits,deferred compensation plans and professionalliability (malpractice) insurance.

For assistance call or visit the ProfessionalStaff Benefits Office located at: MassachusettsGeneral Hospital, Bulfinch Building, Suite 126Phone: 617-726-9267; Fax: 617-726-2252

CHILD CARE

Website for information on Child Care at MGH:http://www.massgeneral.org/childcareservices.To request information, please call SherylLauber Weden at 617-724-9751

MGH Backup Child Care Center, Warren LobbyInfo: 617-724-7100

• Monday through Friday, 7 am to 6 pm

• Designed for toddler, pre-school, andschool age children

• Intended to assist employees of MGH and Partners, as well as patients, whentheir primary care falls through or whenschool is closed.

Parents in a Pinchwww.parentsinapinch.com

An employee benefit that offers back-upchild care for emergencies. This compliments

the service already in place for employeesin the Warren Lobby, which is called theMGH Backup Childcare Center.

• Childcare is available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week in your home.

• Cost is $10 per hour for one child, $1 per hour more for each additional child.

Call Parents in a Pinch directly at 617-739-5437to request childcare. Be sure to identify yourselfas an employee of Mass General Hospital andprovide your MGH Employee ID number.

MGH Children’s Center, Captains Quarters, CNYInfo: 617-726-5437

• First priority for Partners HealthCareSystem employees

• 6 weeks to 5 years old – 65 kids/day.There is a waiting list.

The Children’s Quarters at the MGHInstitute of Health Professions at CNY Info: 617-726-6010

• Priority to Partners employees and theCharlestown community

• Full time/Part time daycare for Preschooland Kindergarten children ages 2.9 to 6 years old

• Open 6:15 am to 5:45 pm, Monday - Friday

• 49 available slots

WEBSITES

FinancialSocial Security Online For Womenhttp://www.ssa.gov/women

MomMD® “The leading online community for women inmedicine. Women at all stages of their medicalcareer can find information and resources tobalance and enrich their professional andpersonal life. Connect with other womenacross the world.”http://www.mommd.com/

NIH Achieving Xxcellence - AdvancingWomen in Science http://www4.od.nih.gov/axxs/default.htm

RESEARCH

http://mghra.partners.org/http://crnet.mgh.harvard.edu/home/home.asphttp://grants1.nih.gov/grants/oer.htmhttp://www.aamc.org/http://www.hms.harvard.edu/fa/facfel.html

Office for Women’s Careers at MGH - A Resource for Women Faculty4


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Have all of the information for your CVbut don’t know how to put it together?Don’t have the time to put it in the HMS format?The OWC Staff Assistant, Brenda I. Vega, has manyyears experience working with HMS formatted CVsand she recently learned how to use the new F.I.R.S.T.program established by HMS. She can compile yourinformation and input it into the F.I.R.S.T. programfor you in their proper categories. Before you knowit, you will have a complete formatted CV by HMSstandards before your eyes. She can be hired for afterwork hours for $25/hr. Brenda can be reached [email protected]

Web based budgeting applicationavailable for researchers The Office of Research Management has recentlycome out with a new web based application to helpinvestigators manage their research budgets. It iscalled Insight Research Portal and can be accessed byemailing a request to Scott McNeal (Director, ResearchApplications Group) at [email protected]

New office for women’s careersin NYCMemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center announcesthe creation of an Office of Women’s Careers, due inlarge part to the consultation and advice receivedfrom MGH’s Dr. Nancy Tarbell and Rebecca Starr.They have begun the search for a director of this newoffice.

“Making the Grade on Women’sHealth” 2004 Report Card from theNational Women’s Law Center.Massachusetts continues to rank #2 overall for women’shealth; of the 27 state-ranked health indicators, thestate received a “grade” of Satisfactory (S) on 5 items:

• Mammograms• Colorectal screening• Cholesterol screening• Annual dental visits• Maternal mortality rate

MA received a grade of Satisfactory Minus (S-) on 11 items: (and S- was the overall grade)

• First trimester prenatal care• Women in county without an abortion provider• Pap smears (tests)• No leisure-time physical activity• Obese• Coronary heart disease rate• Stroke death rate• AIDS rate• Chlamydia• Infant mortality rate• High school completion

MA received a grade of Unsatisfactory (U) for 8 items:

• Women w/o health insurance• 5-a-day• Smoking• Binge drinking• Breast cancer death rate• High blood pressure • Diabetes• Life expectancy

MA received 3 Failing (F) grades:

• Lung cancer death rate• Poverty• Wage gap

The Report Card also graded Massachusetts on 67 policyindicators – with four grades that ranged from “no policy/or harmful policy,” “weak policy,” “limited policy,” to“meets policy.” MA had 35 “Meets;” 9 “limited;” 5 “weak”and 17 policies that were considered either missing orharmful.

To find the entire report, available for download or purchase, go to the National Women’s Law Center website– http://www.nwlc.org/ and click on“Health.”

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Save the date!Partners Physicians Day 2005

Saturday, February 12, 2005 at theMarriott Copley Place Hotel

Office for Women’s Careers at MGH - A Resource for Women Faculty6


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How do you best write the NARRATIVEfor an HMS formatted CV?According to Dr. Mary Clark, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the HarvardMedical School, writing a narrative is as easy as following a simple recipe.

The first paragraph should be like your personal abstract. Tell who you are,what your field of interest is and with what clinical practice you are involved (if any), what kind of basic research or clinical research you conduct (if any), andwhat kind of teaching you do. This should be a brief one paragraph summary ofyour current professional activities with the activities in which most of your academic effort is spent, listed first.

The subsequent paragraphs are expansions of the bullet points above. Again,remember to start with the aspect of the three pronged mission, i.e. clinical care,research and teaching, that you spend the most effort on.

Use one paragraph to expand about where you work, and what laboratory orclinical expertise you have. If you are managing a department or a program, here iswhere you would talk about that program and any collaborative relationships withother laboratories/departments/hospitals you may have established.

In another paragraph, if you are doing research, expand upon your researchinterests, be they basic, clinical, or educational (as appropriate). Explain what youhave done, what your current focus is, and what impact it has had or is expected tohave.

Make sure to report on your contributions as a teacher in the laboratory, clinicalor lecture room setting. Talk about any teaching program or curriculum developmentwith which you are involved, either locally or nationally.

The entire narrative should be only one page long and should clearly describewho you are as a professional, what your primary functions and responsibilitiesare, and what your current and future contributions to academic programs ofteaching and scholarship may be.

! about promotions

Annual reception for womenfaculty a lively affairEvery year in the early Summer, the Office for Women’s Careerscelebrates the accomplishments of the women faculty at MGHwith a special reception in their honor. This year’s 7th AnnualReception, was held in Wellman Conference Room, and wasoverflowing with good cheer, wonderful food, and beautiful harpmusic in the background. Guest speakers included Dr. JosephMartin, the Dean of Harvard Medical School, Jeff Davis, theSenior Vice President of Human Resources, and Dr. BritNicholson, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President.Tribute Books, listing significant publications, honors, awards,and promotions of the women faculty and compiled by theOffice for Women’s Careers, were distributed at this reception.

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Dr. Joseph Martin, Dean of HMS

Have you changed your mailing address?

If so, please remove the mailing label from this newsletter,cross out the old address, write in the new one andsend it to: Brenda I. Vega, Staff Assistant, Office forWomen’s Careers, Bulfinch 360

8SUMMER 2003/04 Office for Women’s Careers at MGH - A Resource for Women Faculty

EDITORRebecca Starr

Please send your input, ideas, suggestions and comments to the editor at [email protected]

Published byPartners Office for Women’s Careers at MGHMassachusetts General HospitalBulfinch 36055 Fruit StreetBoston, MA 02114

Phone: 617-724-5229FAX: 617-726-0568

Women in Academic Medicine Committee at MGHJane D. Claflin,

Honorary TrusteeJean Elrick, MDAnne Fishel, PhDAmy Fontanella, MBAJudy FriendTayyaba Hasan, PhDElaine Hylek, MDReshma Jagsi, MD

Anne Klibanski, MDRon S. Newbower, PhDBritain Nicholson, MDElena Olson, JDJohn Parrish, MDNancy Rigotti, MDJerrold F. Rosenbaum, MDJoan A. Sapir, EdM, MBAIsaac Schiff, MDEleanor Shore, MD

Peggy SlasmanRebecca Starr, MSW, MBANancy J. Tarbell, MDDorothy Terrell, BAErin Tracy, MD, MPHDebra Weinstein, MDWendy Caroline West, PhDAnna Yoo, MDAnne Young, MD, PhD


MRS. JANE CLAFLIN and the Office forWomen’s Careers throw an elegant luncheoneach year to honor both the new recipients ofthe Claflin Awards as well as all past recipientssince the first award was given in 1997. Todate, 29 women have received this prestigiousaward which provides $30,000/year for twoyears of funding. All luncheon attendees hadthe opportunity to meet each other and hearabout the scientific research they are conductingas well as how the award helped them in theircareer advancement. Each woman expressedtremendous appreciation for the award theyreceived and acknowledged that it was this awardthat really propelled them in their careers.

Claflin Distinguished Scholars feted at celebratory luncheon

Above left: Rebecca Starr and Mrs. Jane Claflin

Above center: From left, Drs. AnneThorndike, Irene Georgakoudi andCathryn Sundback

Above right: From left, Drs. NaomiSimon, Sabine Wilhelm and AdeleViguera

Right: From left, Drs. Herminia D.Rosas, Eleanor Shore and Sanja Sever

partners office for women in medicine month lecture...the title of the exhibit was “ebr005. acr...

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