Women in Medicine Trainees’ Council (WIMTC)

The Women in Medicine Trainees’ Council (WIMTC) serves as a centralized organization to bring together trainees and faculty of all levels, across medical specialties to address the needs of women-identifying residents and fellows in the Department of Medicine (DOM). The council works to foster discussions about gender in academia, facilitate mentorship relationships, promote gender balance and equity, mitigate gender bias, and promote activities aimed at academic and personal advancement of women in medicine. We host numerous events and initiatives throughout the year and partner with other organizations as well. Our group meets monthly to share ideas and plan upcoming events.

Mission Statement

The Women in Medicine Trainees Council will serve as a centralized organization to bring together trainees and faculty across medical specialties in the Department of Medicine to:

• Share ideas and experiences related to gender in academia
• Foster mentor relationships
• Promote gender balance and equity across all providers
• Mitigate gender bias
• Promote activities aimed at academic and personal advancement of women in medicine

Events & Initiatives

Some of the exciting events and initiatives supported by the WIMTC include:

• The Women in Medicine Trainee Summit 2021: Become a Changemaker on March 6, 2021
• Mock interviews for women trainees applying to fellowships or jobs
• Sessions with women leaders from within Mass General and across the country, focusing on topics such as negotiations and microaggressions
• Networking events with other departments’ Women in Medicine organizations at Mass General
• Mentorship program involving women physicians of all levels within the Department of Medicine
• Designing and implementing a “Gender Bias in Medicine” curriculum within the residency program
• Improving lactation room availability and resources for physician parents
• Groundbreaking research on gender in medical training, such as the effect of “Doctor” identification badges on the misidentification of women providers working with colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Increasing parental leave to eight weeks of paid leave for parents of all genders

Get to Know Us

Chair

Dr. Rachel Frank

Rachel Frank completed her residency in internal medicine at MGH followed by general cardiology and critical care fellowships. She is currently completing her final year of fellowship in advanced echocardiography. She has served as a member of the WIMTC since 2017 and is excited to be the chair for the 2023-2024 academic year. She strives to bring resources, mentorship, and tangible change to trainees through advocacy, networking and education.

Vice chair

Dr. Danielle Crabtree

Danielle Crabtree is a PGY-2 in the Department of Medicine. She attended medical school at Jefferson in Philadelphia where she was involved in medical education with a particular interest in how attention to equity can improve pre-clinical curricula. Prior to medical school she worked in book publishing for several years during which time she was co-chair of the Penguin Random House Diversity Network aimed at improving gender and racial equity within the industry. She hopes to continue using the lessons from these experiences to promote equity during training and throughout her career. 

Lead faculty advisors

Dr. Varsha Tanguturi

Varsha K. Tanguturi, MDDr. Varsha Keelara Tanguturi is a cardiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and medical school at Harvard Medical School. After residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she pursued Cardiology and Advanced Echocardiography fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to seeing patients in the inpatient and outpatient settings, she interprets and performs trans-thoracic and trans-esophageal echocardiographic imaging including intra-procedural imaging. Her research interest is in optimizing the utilization of echocardiography to improve disparities in the treatment of valvular heart disease. To address these issues, she has created novel databases and prospective trials for research in the field of echocardiography both at MGH and through multi-institutional collaborations.

Dr. Tanguturi’s clinical and academic work has been consistently coupled with leading groups in innovative ways to help others, particularly towards the advancement of women in the field of medicine. During her training, she created a cross-institutional program for women cardiology fellows to develop leadership and career advancement skills. In 2015, she was invited to be the inaugural chair for the Women in Medicine Trainees’ Council (WIMTC) which supports over 200 women annually in leadership, career, and personal development. Since joining the faculty in 2018, Dr. Tanguturi has continued to lead this group, now along with mentoring the trainees involved. Through a framework that has prioritized sustainability, creativity, and flexibility, the WIMTC has accomplished a tremendous amount in the last 7 years. It continues to innovate to improve the careers and lives of women trainees through various career development programs, policy advocacy, and consultative guidance to other groups at MGH, while fostering an inclusive and supportive community. In 2021, conceived and executed under Dr. Tanguturi’s leadership, the WIMTC held the inaugural Women in Medicine Trainees Summit to bring together trainees and leaders to share ideas to advance the careers of women trainees in medicine. The summit was a major success with over 500 registrants and attendees from 45 different countries. Her expertise has also been drawn upon as a task force leader and board member for the MGH Center for Physician Well-Being.

Dr. Emily Lau

Dr. Lau is a cardiologist and investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She received her medical degree from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Masters in Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she also served as Chief Medical Resident. She subsequently completed cardiovascular disease fellowship and advanced echocardiography training at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is board certified in cardiology, echocardiography, and internal medicine. Dr. Lau specializes in women's cardiovascular health, general cardiology, and echocardiography. Her research focuses on understanding how biologic sex differences and female-specific risk factors contribute to heart disease.

Dr. Lau specializes in women's cardiovascular health, general cardiology, and echocardiography. Her research focuses on how biologic differences between men and women and female-specific risk factors contribute to heart disease. 

Administrator

Katerina Patras

Katerina, a Chicago native, currently works in the Department of Medicine at Mass General and is dedicated to improving better healthcare for all.

Helpful Links & Resources

The Office of Women’s Careers (OWC)

The OWC is a long-established, hospital-wide group focused on gender equity, professional development, and community building among women at Mass General. They publish a regular newsletter of events and hold numerous events, talks, and workshops throughout the year.

Learn more about OWC

Graduate Medical Education

Our training programs strive to be family friendly, offering paid maternity and paternity leave, lactation rooms, and a variety of childcare resources. 

Learn more about Graduate Medical Education

Trainee Well-being Council

Mass General Brigham GME formed a trainee well-being council to focus on the needs of trainees. Several resources such as easy access to mental health care are available to all Mass General Brigham trainees; more information can be found at the well-being website. 

Learn more about the Trainee Well-being Council

Diversity and Inclusion Board

The Department of Medicine Diversity and Inclusion Board (DIB) is charged with furthering the fundamental mission of supporting and expanding the representation of individuals regardless of gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability within the department.

Learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion Board

Contact Information

Feel free to reach out to us with any questions!

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