Mentoring women in medicine

The inaugural Women in Medicine Mentor Dinner was held on May 18 at the Women's College, University of Sydney. The event was organized by Gemma Winlo a 2nd year medical student and was jointly sponsored by Flowers Financial Group and the University of Sydney Medical Society.

The dinner was held to provide female medical students with an opportunity to hear from two inspirational women, Royal North Shore's Dr Cate Storey (Head of Neurology) and Associate Professor Elizabeth Elliot (Consultant Paediatrician) from the Children’s Hospital at Westmead. Both speakers delivered particularly honest and inspirational speeches covering issues such as career choice and the challenges of balancing career and family.

Over 85 people in total attended, with the majority of the audience being female medical students from the University of Sydney. Female doctors also attended providing an opportunity for students to network and gain advice about their future careers.

The evening was a huge success and the first of its kind for the University of Sydney - look out for it in years to come as it is set to become a permanent fixture on the University of Sydney Medical Society calendar.