CAR Board Member Dr. Jana Taylor took the stage as part of a panel of experts from the public, private, and non-profit sectors speaking on their work experiences as women in their respective industries.
Hosted by the McGill University Laidley Center for Business Ethics, Dr. Taylor was one of four distinguished speakers at Working Women in the Post-COVID Era in March. In addition to Dr. Taylor, attendees heard from:
- Saloua Benkhouya – Vice-President, Private Equity and Impact Investments, Fonds de solidarité FTQ
- Félicia Cá – Research and Projects Coordinator, Relais-femmes
- Christina Smith – Mayor, City of Westmount
“This event provided an opportunity to share some of the challenges faced by health professionals during the COVID pandemic, specifically those unique to radiology,” said Dr. Taylor, “and to reflect on the positive and negative impact that they had on women in our profession.”
For her portion of the panel, Dr. Taylor drew on her experiences over time to make several key points. The first was the continued underrepresentation of women in the field, especially at the level of higher administrative and academic positions, which she says predates the pandemic.
Dr. Taylor also explained that the pandemic forced educational institutions to learn in different ways which have lasting impacts. “We learned from the pandemic that in many cases, in-person learning is invaluable and cannot be duplicated as effectively virtually. I think there is a lot more insight into how to maximize effective learning and administration through a hybrid mix of in-person and virtual meetings.”
Finally, she noted there are similar benefits to the flexibility of reading off-site, saying “This is particularly useful for professionals with family obligations. The need for radiologists on-site to work directly with their clinical colleagues and medical student and resident trainees is critical.”
Being a part of the event was also a chance for Dr. Taylor to listen to the experiences of the other panelists, she said, who brought up some consistent themes. “Two points that were brought up repeatedly were the rise of disinformation through social media and the impact on many professions, particularly medicine. The other was the positive effect of creating more flexible workplace environments with a combination of in-person and remote work to maximize the benefits of each.”
Congratulations to Dr. Taylor for being a part of the expert panel and thank you for sharing your experiences during a challenging time.