LAUSR

Despite extensive work to improve gender equity in academic medicine, women lag in terms of promotions and leadership positions (1). This inequity intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic which has disproportionately affected women, particularly those at early-career stages, who have been bearing the load of additional caregiving and homeschooling responsibilities (2–4). National surveys of early career faculty also highlighted the devastating impact of the COVID-19-related travel ban and the resultant cancelations of meetings on their careers (5). One reason for the lower promotion rates of women is impediments to travel for national and international presentations, which are associated with opportunities for networking and collaborations, critical to academic promotion and success (6). Due to the COVID-19-related travel bans, most grand rounds and visiting professorships are now being conducted virtually which has removed barriers to travel and provides an opportunity to involve more women in visiting professorships. The Center for Faculty Development at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) designed a program to promote women faculty and postdoctoral fellows during COVID-19 by providing the opportunity to serve as virtual visiting scholar at national or international institutions combined with mentorship, coaching, and peer-to-peer networking. In this report, we describe the design and short-term outcomes of this program.