Formal mentoring programs exist for women in the military, but the need for ad hoc networking, personal communication, and informal mentoring still appear to be the strongest threads among female military health care professionals.
During National Women's Month, we highlight some of these leaders' opinions.
"There is more cognizance now for women early in their career to have that mentorship and sponsorship," said Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. Terry Adirim. "As we get more senior, we develop other networks and relationships, so women won't have to struggle" as much as they did when she graduated from medical school 30 years ago.
"Surround yourself with people who will lift you up, not put you down," Adirim advised.
An emergency care pediatrician by training, Adirim now has a distinguished career in her field and in academia; and has been a senior Department of Defense official in different positions for several administrations.
Army Col. (Dr.) Dana Nguyen, chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, said women should seek out informal networks.
"Even though there are more formal mentorships and networks for women in military medicine, the best are the informal networks and opportunities to share stories, share feelings and reactions and help plan the way forward," and not just in military medicine, she said, but within their local communities as well. "There is more emphasis on whole-person well-being."
Air Force Lt. Col. (Dr.) Ruth Brenner, a preventive medicine physician and deputy chief of the Immunization Healthcare Division, Defense Health Agency Public Health Division, cited the "numerous women physician-leaders I have encountered along the way who serve as a collective guiding light for me as my career progresses. They proved to me that a successful work-life balance was attainable."
Discussing what advice to give young women in a military health care field, Air Force Brig. Gen. Anita Fligge, deputy assistant director, education and training, and chief nursing officer at the DHA, said: "To me, it's such a great opportunity; it has limitless opportunities to serve and grow professionally." She added: "Keeping an open mind and seeking out challenges, setting stretch goals, makes you grow as an officer, a health care professional and a person."
Fligge is responsible for 75 professional development and enlisted medical education programs across two institutes that train more than 308,000 DOD and international students annually.
Army Col. Audra Taylor, division chief, DHA Armed Service Blood Program, said young women and girls looking into health care careers in the military "should follow their passion and go for it. The ability to explore and research different careers and pathways is at their fingertips."
"I would advise that they do their homework, ask questions, and seek out a mentor in their desired career field and push forward."
Taylor has established herself with a strong record of leadership and experience within the blood banking community as well as with civilian counterparts, according to a June 2019 profile by AABB - formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks - which is dedicated to advancing transfusion medicine and biotherapies.