Tunnel of Truth Podcast Exposes the Story of Gender and Race in Radiology
By Carmen Elena Mitchell, Larj Media Marketing Director
Over the last five years, medicine has appeared to be making some tremendous strides in the area of gender equality. According to a report from the Association of American Medical Colleges, women now make up over 50% of medical school graduates.
What happens after graduation, though, is a different matter.
“Radiology has a long history of being a field dominated by white males,” explains Dr. Rachel Gerson, a board-certified radiologist, who serves as the Chair of the Committee on Women and Diversity for the Washington State Radiological Society. “Women comprise only 27% of radiologists, and we are lacking even more in diversity. Only 4.7% of radiologists are Black.”
Dr. Gerson is the host of Tunnel of Truth: True Reports on Gender and Race in the Reading Room, a new podcast from Larj Media that explores the personal experiences, challenges and triumphs of physicians from diverse backgrounds along their professional journey in radiology.
Dr. Gerson, who specializes in musculoskeletal radiology and women’s imaging, has long been interested in the question of how the field can do better at recruiting and retaining women and people of diverse backgrounds in particular.
“While some of the early pioneers of radiology were women, including notably, two time Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie, the field has been slow to gain women,” reflects Gerson “Over time this has led to a lack of role models, mentors and created unconscious biases. Even today many radiology practices don’t have maternity leave policies, which may be a factor in retaining women physicians.” But lack of representation only tells part of the story. Recently, while attending a Women-in-Radiology mentoring event, Gerson realized that there was another aspect to the story that wasn’t being told, at least not publicly.
“One afternoon at a panel discussion, a few attendees opened up about their personal experiences of sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. This led to more and more stories from the group. The conversation was spontaneous, and it got me thinking … these are the stories we don’t hear and yet, so many of us have similar experiences. Medicine remains very hierarchical, and the radiology community is small. Fear of retaliation for speaking out is very real. We need to document these stories in a safe way and allow them to be heard.”
“We need to document these stories in a safe way and allow them to be heard.”
The intimacy of the podcast format appealed to Gerson, “Guests could be anonymous if they chose to, but at the same time we would be able to reach a wide audience within the medical community.”
It was essential to Gerson to have a producing partner that could not only support the technical and logistical aspects of the medium, but who would be on board with the intention behind telling these stories.
“Larj Media is not only a top-notch women owned podcast production company with several incredible credits, but they are passionate about supporting projects that bring visibility to social justice issues. We were already speaking the same language when it came to our interest in telling stories that would advance the conversation around diversity, equity and inclusion. I knew Larj would provide a comfortable place for women and others to tell their stories and that they would do justice to those stories”
“We’re honored that Dr. Gerson has entrusted us to help share these stories on a larger platform, says Larj Founder and Chief Creative Officer Tina Nole, “Over the past five years, we’ve seen the power of the #MeToo movement to drive impact at an institutional level in entertainment and politics - but we just don’t hear about these types of stories in medicine. It’s only by talking about these experiences that we can really start to address systemic issues. Larj Media is proud to be a part that process.”
If you have a story you’d like to share about your experience as a radiologist, please contact us. All stories can be told anonymously. Tunnel of Truth is available at TunnelofTruth.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
Dr. Rachel Gerson is a board-certified radiologist with expertise in musculoskeletal radiology and women’s imaging. She is committed to supporting women and people of diverse backgrounds throughout their careers in radiology and to making radiology an inclusive place for patients and the practice of medicine. A leader in health innovation and clinical implementation strategies, her work aims to harness the power of machine learning, data science and new technologies to promote solutions to systems and operational problems in health care with the goal of ultimately improving quality, access and equity. Dr. Gerson has served on the American College of Radiology Commission on Women and Diversity and is a current member of the ACR Council Steering Committee. She also serves as the Chair of the Committee on Women and Diversity for the Washington State Radiological Society.
Larj Media is a full-service creative podcast production agency here to help you reach and inspire your target audience through high-quality and compelling audience-specific content. Our experienced, award-winning team will deliver expert guidance through your podcast's concepting, development, and production to ensure its effectiveness and success, no matter where you are in the world.