Amplifying Women’s Voices in Healthcare: Medscape Education’s Award-Winning Podcast Series

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Though the origins of this quote are a little fuzzy, the idea is crystal clear, and can inspire you to choose your path forward.

It’s exactly what Medscape Education did by launching our award-winning Hear From Her: Women in Healthcare Leadership podcast series. Despite the fact that women are seriously underrepresented in C-suites throughout the healthcare industry, we kept meeting incredible women — founders, pioneers, policy changers, patient advocates — who, though they might not be household names, are doing extraordinary things throughout the field of medicine. And we knew we had to share their achievements and amplify the voices of these spirited, brilliant leaders.

Women who were breaking new ground, like Shikha Jain, MD, founder of the first-of-its-kind Women in Medicine Summit, a community and annual gathering where women come together for support and networking. The inspiration for the summit arose, she says, from selfish reasons. “I wanted to have a community of women in medicine that I could talk to!”

Leaders who are redefining the future of women’s healthcare with a holistic, multidisciplinary approach, as our guests on Episode 3, Season 2, are doing. That episode, featuring guests Sarah Jarvis, MBE, resident doctor on BBC Radio 2, and Bharati Shivalkar, MD, PhD, FESC, Senior Medical Director of Global Medical Affairs and Rare Cardiology at Pfizer, was our most-played episode (because … who wouldn’t want to listen to a conversation titled “A Woman Should Not Be Treated As a Small Man”)!

Catch up on Season 1 and Season 2 on: Apple, Spotify or Medscape

And senior executives like Jessica Lake and Lani Hessen, pioneers in the exciting new space of digital therapeutics, which provides patients with tools, resources, and personalized insights on their electronic devices, whenever and wherever they need. These solutions can be life-changing, especially when it comes to mental health treatment. One in five of us struggle with mental health issues, which often go untreated for a variety of reasons, including a shortage of available licensed providers as well as the demands in our busy days.

Our podcasts had quite an impact. Close to 125,000 unique users checked us out in 2024—and more than half of them were men! (Hopefully those listeners will now better understand the challenges women in medicine face.)

Especially exciting for us is that these conversations drew close to 45,000 new learners to Medscape Education’s CME content!  We pride ourselves on delivering cutting-edge, evidence-based education that enhances and broadens clinicians’ knowledge, competence, and confidence. Which in turn raises the quality of patient care and outcomes—everyone’s ultimate goal.

We were beyond thrilled to win our second Gold Award – that’s 2 years running! — at the AVA Digital Awards for Season 2 of our podcast. This international competition honors excellence in digital creativity, branding, and strategy, and recognizes the work of creative professionals in the planning, concept, direction, and production of digital communications. We share this award with our amazing guests who made the conversations possible, and never cease to amaze us with their unending passion for their work. They set a very very high bar.

Needless to say, we can’t wait for the launch of Season 3, which is just around the corner! And there are more eye-opening conversations on tap.

You’ll hear from 2 trailblazers in oncology and women’s health, Dr Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu and Dr Nermean Mostafa, who share the challenges they face when it comes to educating many African women about cancer screening and prevention. There is a cultural belief that illness is rooted in the supernatural, explains Bagudu, so often women will visit a traditional healer rather than seek medical care if they get sick.

Catch up on Season 1 and Season 2 on: Apple, Spotify or Medscape

Elcin Barker Ergun, CEO of Menarini Group, and Virginia Kaklamani, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at The University of Texas Health Science Center, talk about their mission to improve how the healthcare system moves forward for women (and the importance of convincing women to prioritize their own health).

And you won’t want to miss the episode “Clinician’s Dilemma: To Treat or Not to Treat Chronic Conditions During Pregnancy.” Our guests, Marie Teil, Global Head of the Women of Childbearing Age Program at UCB Biopharma, and Cathy Nelson-Piercy, Professor of Obstetric Medicine at Guy’s and St. Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust, share this cold truth: When it comes to treating women living with a chronic disease who become pregnant, physicians are in the dark. Many don’t have the information they need about whether it’s safer for patients to continue taking their medications, or to stop.

In showcasing another round of fascinating conversations, we’re putting our money where our mouth is (so to speak): heralding women leaders who are not only leaving huge footprints in healthcare, but also setting an example for the next generation.

Hopefully many of them will listen in.

Catch up on Seasons here:
Apple | Spotify | Medscape

About Medscape Education

Medscape Education (medscape.org) is the leading destination for continuous professional development, consisting of more than 30 specialty-focused destinations offering thousands of free accredited CME and CE courses for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.