Lethbridge’s Dr. Vanessa Maclean has been recognized with a prestigious award from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) for her work in mentoring other female physicians.
Maclean was presented with the 2020 May Cohen Award for Women Mentors in a virtual ceremony on Thursday night.
Her focus on mentoring promising young physicians was emphasized while working as a zone medical director for Alberta Health Services (AHS), and in 2017, she was asked to review the experience of female physicians in leadership roles in the province.
“I feel very strongly about mentorship and about reaching out and identifying people and helping them realize their potential as leaders — just as individuals,” Maclean told Global News. “And I think that that is especially important for females, and not just female physicians.
“I think traditionally that natural mentorship, or kind of looking to the next generation and seeing those natural leaders or identifying people, that’s typically been more focused on men than women, I just think in our society.”
Maclean said it quickly became clear that the ratio of male to female leaders in the medical community was not representative of the ratio of male to female physicians. Her report “Female Physician Leaders in Alberta Health Services” made recommendations to address barriers faced by women in the health sector.
“The past is the past, and so all we can do is learn from that and look for opportunities for improvement and to create a better balance,” she said. “Certainly we found lots of opportunities for improvement, and I’m very pleased that Alberta Health Services and the chief medical officer’s office has taken those recommendations seriously.”
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But Maclean said she sees the value in mentoring all young physicians in the field.
“Encouraging individuals to realize their potential, help them seek out opportunities and to develop leadership skills, and to reach out and apply for leadership positions,” she said.
In her work today, Maclean is mainly focused on Connect Care, a province-wide electronic medical system that is aimed at improving patient care.
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