Recognizing a Champion for Women Everywhere

Women’s Health Pioneer Deborah Driscoll to Receive 2018 Elizabeth Kirk Rose Award

Few can be said to have done as much for women’s health and the advancement of women in academic medicine as Deborah A. Driscoll, MD, the Luigi Mastroianni, Jr. Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine. Widely recognized as a world-leading obstetrician-gynecologist geneticist specializing in the care of women with genetic disorders, Dr. Driscoll has created one of the country’s most highly regarded OB/GYN departments for research, innovative clinical programs, and teaching.

And on Tuesday, November 13, Dr. Driscoll and her distinguished career will be recognized with the Elizabeth Kirk Rose, M'26, INT'30 Women in Medicine Award. Sponsored by the Elizabeth Blackwell Society and Penn Medicine Development and Alumni Relations, the annual award and its luncheon recognizes women who have contributed significantly to fostering the education and careers of other women in academic medicine. The event draws its inspiration from Dr. Rose, who was a dynamic pediatrician and community health advocate.

Pulse caught up with Dr. Driscoll to ask her about what this award means to her, and get her thoughts on how far women in medicine have come.

As a tremendous pioneer for women’s health, education, inclusion, and diversity: What does it mean to you to have your name and accomplishments linked with those of Dr. Rose through this award?

I am very honored to receive the Rose Women in Medicine award. As an obstetrician, I feel a special bond with Dr. Rose. She was a champion of women’s health care and directed the Division of Maternal and Child Health for the City of Philadelphia.

Inspired by Dr. Rose’s example, I have been committed to ensuring that women in the Philadelphia region have access to high-quality, safe prenatal and reproductive health care. Penn was the first to integrate behavioral and mental health into prenatal care, and we expanded our prenatal clinic for underserved women in the Dickens Center.

Also, one of my goals as a chair was to create a supportive, nurturing environment that would encourage women to pursue careers in academic medicine as physician investigators and leaders. So I am most proud of the accomplishments of our faculty and trainees: women who have established highly productive research programs, secured extramural funding, and assumed leadership positions at Penn and other peer academic institutions.

For me as Chair, the key was investing in our research infrastructure and serving as PI of a career development grant – which helped launch the careers of more than 10 female OB/GYNs.

Over your career, what do you feel has been the most positive change for women working in medicine?

Over the past three decades I have witnessed an unprecedented ascent of women into leadership positions at Penn Medicine: clinical and basic science department chairs, division chiefs, vice deans, hospital executives. In 2005, all of our OB/GYN division chiefs were men. In 2018, more than half are women! I am heartened to see that many women are no longer reticent to assume leadership roles, and they serve as role models for the next generation.

There are still challenges facing women in medicine. Women physicians are very concerned about the risk for burnout, and they worry about how they will balance family/life and work. And there are competing pressures to be clinically productive yet find time for scholarly activities.