Azita Hamedani, MD, MPH, MBA, was honored with a 2022 Impact Award from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Group on Women and Medicine in Science. The award recognizes sustained and effective mentorship in advancing the careers of women in medicine and science.
Established in 2021, the UW SMPH Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS) is a chapter of the national American Associate of Medical Colleges GWIMS organization. The group’s mission is to advance “the full and successful participation and inclusion of women within academic medicine and science” through education, advocacy, mentoring, and networking.
The Impact Award was presented Dr. Hamedani at the 2022 Women in Medicine & Science Symposium, held November 29, at the Health Sciences Learning Center. The annual symposium featured a keynote speaker, panel discussion and awards presentation, and served to explore opportunities, obstacles and strategies for success for women in medicine and science.
For more than a decade, Dr. Hamedani has been instrumental in transforming the landscape of emergency medicine at the University of Wisconsin and beyond, serving as the founding chair of the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine from 2014 to 2022, and prior to that as founding division chief from 2009 to 2014. Under her stewardship, emergency medicine at the University of Wisconsin and UW Health advanced from a small clinical service to a large academic department with an exceptional national reputation.
Dr. Hamedani has been instrumental in transforming the culture in Emergency Medicine by reducing obstacles that impede the progress of women leaders and creating an environment where men and women share leadership opportunities equally, in a historically male-dominated specialty. By selflessly investing in faculty and supporting professional development training, Dr. Hamedani has successfully supported many faculty to institutional, regional and national leadership roles.
Dr. Hamedani exemplifies a deep commitment to fostering the professional and personal development of women in medicine and science, and she has made an indelible impact on countless women faculty, residents, and medical students.
The Impact Award reflects the direct impact of Dr. Hamedani’s innovative leadership in emergency medicine locally and nationally, and her commitment to fostering a safe and thriving environment that is responsive to the unique challenges women physicians face in a field that is still predominantly male.
Mary Westergaard, MD, associate professor and vice chair of education, BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine (pictured above), has also invested in the experience of women in medicine at the UW, including founding and serving as inaugural president of the UW SMPH GWIMS chapter.
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Membership to the UW Group on Women in Medicine and Science is open to faculty of all genders. Faculty can express their interest in becoming a GWIMS member here.