President of OU aims to inspire during Women in Medicine Month keynote

Inspiring reflection on career goals - and making it a priority to focus on achieving them - was the message of a presentation Friday hosted by OUWB that featured Oakland University's president.

Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, M.D., president, Oakland University, gave the keynote that wrapped up the school's monthlong Women in Medicine Month (WIMM) celebration.

September also saw the school host other events related to WIMM: a panel discussion; a presentation on AI from an OUWB alumnus; and a film screening and discussion.

Generally, all of the events were forward-looking and dealt with questions and topics aimed at improvement - personally, professionally, and with regard to the field of medicine.

Friday's presentation from Pescovitz was no different as she led an audience of nearly 40 through several engaging exercises involving goal-setting, self-reflection, and more.

"I hope (those in the audience) will think about their life and career goals and how they're going to focus on what they're going to do to accomplish those goals," Pescovitz said after her keynote.

In one of the exercises, Pescovitz asked attendees to write on an index card the top 10 things (personally and professionally) on their respective to-do lists for the week. She then asked the audience to prioritize each item, by marking them A, B, or C.

On a second card, she asked people to write their top three goals in life.

"I want you to put the cards together and ask yourself 'If I achieve everything on my to-do list this week, will it get me closer to achieving any of the things on my life goal list?'" she said.

For those who self-identified as needing to reassess to-do lists to better align with long-term goals, Pescovitz offered advice and encouragement.

"If the goals that you have on your life goal list are really important to you, then the things you choose to do on your to-do list have to be things that help you achieve your bigger goals," she said.

She used the analogy of lions to serve as big goals and flies to represent items on a to-do list that might not be as valuable in working towards finding success in what is trying to be achieved.

"Ask yourself if you are hunting for lions or just killing flies," said Pescovitz.

OUWB's WIMM-related events were coordinated by the school's Center for Excellence in Medical Education (CEME).

Ann Voorheis-Sargent, Ph.D., director, CEME, said the Pescovitz keynote had attendees from OUWB and Oakland University. She called Pescovitz's message "very good."

"I loved her whole message," she said. "I really liked the discussion about time management, how to be very deliberate when saying 'no' or 'yes' to requests for time…it was very well received by others, too."

Here's a recap of other events held during WIMM:

Inspired Women Lead Discussion

[Link] Robin Rivest, Ed.D., assistant dean for Medical Education at OUWB, speaks during the panel discussion.

Held Sept. 5, the panel featured Sara Arena P.T., M.S., Deana Hays, DNP, R.N., FNP-BC, Lori M. Mausi, M.D., FACOG, Lynda Misra, D.O., FACP, Robin Rivest, Ed.D., and Leigh Settlemoir, Ph.D., MBA.

The 90-minute session was highly engaging with panelists tackling questions primarily from audience members. About 30 people attended.

Questions included: what factors impact a woman's ability to lead others; how a female physician should handle a situation where a patient might assume she isn't a doctor; how to deal with a lack of trust and/or respect; how women can be strong advocates for other women; and more.

Revolutionizing Precision Medicine with Generative AI from Medical Education to Patient Care

The presentation held Sept. 12 was attended by more than 30 and featured Flo Doo, M.D., OUWB '17.

Doo is now director of Innovation and an assistant professor at University of Maryland Medical Center. Previously, she held dual fellowships at Stanford University and American College of Radiology after completing a radiology residency at Mt. Sinai West in New York.

She talked about the basics and current state of artificial intelligence (AI), how to incorporate AI and the role of it in medical education, how radiologists use AI, how the technology fits into residency training, precision medicine, and more.

"I like the fact that OUWB is thinking about AI systemically," she said after her presentation. "The school has an AI task force, is testing out different aspects of the curriculum with AI…all of those things are really cool and unique."

She added that the apparent cohesiveness around AI on the part of the OUWB faculty will also be beneficial for the school.

Doo added that it was "really fun" to see those she knew from her time at OUWB and that "campus has really changed a lot…(and) it's great to see the school growing."

Faces of Medicine

On Sept. 17, Khama Ennis, M.D., an emergency physician at Mass General Brigham's Cooley Dickinson Hospital, hosted a screening of the documentary "Faces of Medicine."

The documentary explores the lives and experiences of the less than 2.8% of Black women who are physicians. The untold stories and voices heard push for the truth of what careers look like for Black women in medicine and call to action for better representation in the field moving forward. Fractured Atlas is the nonprofit organization that produced the film to ensure future generations of Black women who choose careers as doctors never feel alone.

Following the screening, attendees shared their reactions and asked questions while they reflected on the documentary. A total of 25 people attended.

Overall, Voorheis-Sargent said she feels the bar has been set "very high" for WIMM events that will be held in the future.

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.

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