Negotiating is a professional skill that needs to be learned and developed, and while some are great at negotiation, it does not come naturally to most. Earlier in February, the CAR partnered with the University of Toronto (U of T) Department of Medical Imaging to host Women in Radiology: Negotiation Skills, an informative evening dedicated to discussing the importance of negotiation in radiology careers, share stories of personal negotiation experience, and outline steps on how women in radiology can improve this skillset.
Women radiologists packed the host venue, the Elmwood Spa in Toronto, making for an engaging and upbeat evening of learning, discussion, and socializing. The event quickly reached its full registration capacity, with participants eager to learn from the distinguished keynote speaker and panelists and hear about how they have acquired and improved their negotiation skills.
The agenda consisted of a keynote lecture with a question-and-answer session with Dr. Nikolina Mizdrak, an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Mizdrak is a family physician and has been a member of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Negotiations Team since 2017. Dr. Mizdrak was part of the committee that negotiated the binding arbitration framework from 2017-2021. She was also a member of the Appropriateness Working Group and the 2021 Negotiations Task Force that reached a mediated PSA with the ministry, which was ratified by OMA membership in 2022. She has spoken extensively about negotiation in the medical field at public events and in digital spaces like the Small Changes, Big Impact podcast. “The art of negotiation is understanding how you can get your interest to actually collide,” she discussed on the podcast. “It's a very interesting song and dance.”
Dr. Elsie Nguyen (U of T), President of the Canadian Society of Thoracic Imaging (CSTR), emceed the event and says it was an amazing evening for everyone with lots of productive conversation.
“We talked about lots of things related to negotiation. How to navigate conversations with leadership to promote your program or get funding, the flow of money and how you get paid, knowing your worth as a trainee and faculty member, and how to back up your requests with data.”
She notes that there are several reasons why it is important for the CAR to host events like this for women in the field of radiology.
“The evening promoted community and team building and provided a venue for facilitating trainee and faculty positive relationships. Ultimately, it encourages young women to consider radiology as a career since women are underrepresented in radiology.”
Following the keynote lecture was a panel discussion with a lineup of premiere doctors to who highlighted their career experiences in negotiations and imparted their perspectives on the process. Panelists included CAR President Dr. Ania Kielar, U of T Assistant Professor and Vice-Chair of Education Dr. Linda Probyn, and Dr. Tara Graham, Chief of Vascular and Interventional Radiology at Trillium Health Partners.
Dr. Nguyen adds there are several key concepts she hopes participants walked away with.
“It’s important to know how to advocate for yourself or your group by knowing your personality, when to be agreeable and when to stand your ground. Understanding your finances and flow of money in your group is also crucial, along with incentive building to get people to do unfavourable jobs.”
Offering strategies to teach radiologists about negotiation skills is an important priority for the CAR, one that has been highlighted with previous events and educational courses like Inside the C-Suite: Mastering the Art of Radiology Negotiations presented in 2023, which featured expert speakers Dr. Frank Lexa, Dr. Darren Ferguson, and Dr. Christine Molnar. Stay tuned for more information on future events focused on preparing radiologists for negotiations in their daily practice environment.
