26 Supporting and empowering medical women through a podcast

Introduction Women represent 77% of the NHS workforce. The Medical Women's Federation is the largest body of women doctors in the UK and was founded in February 1917 as a way to support women becoming and remaining doctors. In the 106 years since the organisation was founded, there has been an exponential increase in the proportion of medical women, from 5% of UK doctors in 1917 to over 60%. However, medical women still face multiple challenges including sexism, harassment, unconscious and conscious bias. Women are also more likely to take career breaks and work less than full time in order to support children or relatives. Podcasts have become a popular and free educational resource and became hugely popular during the pandemic. There were no podcasts aimed at supporting and empowering medical women in their careers, so I decided to launch the world's first podcast with this aim, The Medical Women Podcast. Aims and objectives of the research project or activity The aim of this project was to design and deliver an innovative podcast as a free resource to support and empower as many medical women in their careers as possible, to help reduce the gender inequity in medicine. Method or approach I examined existing podcasts and found that there were multiple podcasts aimed at women but none particularly aimed at medical women. I designed the first series of episodes to be applicable to medical women from medical students to senior doctors in all specialties. I came up with topics that would be relevant to all of these medical women, such as leadership, speaking confidently, managing finances. I sought out speakers inside and outside of medicine so that we could learn from a broad range of speakers. Although the target audience are women, I ensured that there was diversity in the voices heard on the podcast. I launched the podcast in February 2022, in celebration of the Medical Women's Federation's 105th Birthday. I have since hosted and produced four seasons of podcasts with over 60 episodes that exists as a free resource that anyone can listen to. Findings The podcast has grown in popularity and regularly has between 100–200 listeners per week. To date I have hosted and produced over 60 episodes with over 11,000 downloads and listens in at least 66 countries. 90% of listeners are women, mostly aged 25–45, which fits the demographic for junior doctors to medical women in senior roles. The most popular episodes have been on: creating impact without burnout, how to speak confidently, leadership and financial literacy. I have recently produced a mini-series on women's health in collaboration with Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, to encourage medical women to look after their health during their life course and to encourage innovators to develop new innovations on women's health. Topics covered included fertility, menopause and skin health. Since launching The Medical Women Podcast, there have been more podcasts produced aimed at women in medicine. This shows that there is a demand and need for resources specifically aimed at medical women. I have had feedback on the podcast from multiple listeners who have ranged from medical students to retired consultants. Their feedback has been that the podcast has inspired them in their careers and given them the confidence to apply for leadership roles. Key messages Women make up the majority of the NHS workforce and continue to face barriers to career progression compared with men, such as sexism, sexual harassment and bias. The Medical Women's Podcast has been the world's first podcast produced with the aim of supporting and empowering medical women in their careers. The podcast has become popular and inspired other medical women to start podcasts. This shows there is demand for podcasts supporting women in medicine. The most popular episodes have been on burnout, speaking confidently and leadership. Developing more innovations in these areas are likely to be popular and help to reduce the gender inequity in medicine.