Jul 30, 2019

BMJ Opinion: Ten things Dr. Karen Burns wishes she had known as a woman entering academic medicine

About Us, Faculty
Dr. Karen Burns

Dr. Karen Burns“Although the number of women that have been entering into medicine has increased over the past five decades, progress in gender parity lags behind with fewer women in prestigious positions, leadership roles, or promoted to the highest academic ranks,” writes Dr. Karen Burns in an opinion piece published in BMJ Opinion this week.

Dr. Burns, an associate professor and clinician scientist in the Department of Medicine, reflects on the challenges she has faced as a woman in academic medicine, and compiles a list of the things that she wishes she had known when she started her career. She offers advice for other women who are embarking on careers in academic medicine.

Dr. Burns is an associate professor and clinician scientist at the Department of Medicine, Division of Critical Care, St. Michael’s Hospital and the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute. She holds a medical degree from the Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care, University of Toronto, a Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada from the Department of Medicine at St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, and a Masters of Science from Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto.