Cardiff professor among inspirational women in new book

A Cardiff University professor in medical education is among 15 inspirational women included in a book to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day.

Professor Ann Taylor has been included in the publication by the British Medical Association’s (BMA) Women in Academic Medicine (WAM) group.

The book highlights the stories of women from across the academic medical sphere, celebrating their achievements, career highs, great advice and opportunities.

Professor Taylor, from the School of Medicine, said: “It is an honour to be part of this fantastic celebration of the power of role models. I am exceptionally fortunate to have had some amazing female and male mentors as my role models throughout my career – I consider myself to be part of an unstoppable ‘chain reaction’ for progress.”

Professor Stephen Riley, head of the School of Medicine, said: “We should champion every opportunity to raise the profile of role models across our organisation and beyond. Many of us will have colleagues that we have learnt from and provided us with support throughout our careers – this support helps us through the challenges of a career in the HE sector and this has never been as important as it is now.”

Professor Taylor was awarded a personal chair in 2017 and is now a professor in medical education in the School and manages e-learning and interprofessional level seven programmes and modules. She is also Director of Post Graduate Taught Studies.

Her research is in pain management where she has a number of publications and has advised on national and international collaborations.

Sarah Allsop, co-chair of the BMA’s Women in Academic Medicine Group, said: “For me, working in medical education gives me the opportunity to be part of medical students’ early journeys. I still remember role models from when I was at university and their advice and guidance has stayed with me over the years.”

In 2008, the BMA published a report about women in academic medicine which listed a number of recommendations to encourage more women to join the medical profession.

These recommendations included encouraging role models, networking and opportunities for mentoring. The introduction of the new book says: “You can’t be what you can’t see” and the WAM group hopes this is another step in “opening up this world to as many people as possible”.

The book can be found online here.