After more than a year of planning and preparing, the MWF centenary is finally here. This week of carefully curated events celebrates the rich history of the Medical Women’s Federation with a focus on the ‘Past, Present and Future’ of medicine.
When 9 women came together in 1917 to form the Federation, the founder members were clear in their message. They wanted women doctors to be treated equally and be afforded the same privileges as their male colleagues. In the wake of the First World War, MWF was vocal in its push, campaigning for better working conditions for women serving in the armed forces however, at the end of the war, women medics saw a return to pre- war attitudes with medical schools effectively shutting their doors to women, having previously opened them during the war.
MWF exists as an organisation that helps patients as well as doctors and has been a pioneering voice on women’s heath throughout the past 100 years, campaigning on a variety of issues including menstruation, child health, venereal diseases, female genital mutilation and abortion.
MWF also has a history of supporting its members and has offered grants and prizes to help fund medical students, junior doctors and trips for professional development. The twice yearly conferences are a calendar highlight and are a fantastic opportunity for members and non-members to network, engage in informal mentoring, and be in an environment surrounded by other inspirational women doctors.
The face of medicine has changed a lot over the past 100 years, women now make up the majority of medical students and are becoming increasingly more visible as the public face of medicine (the current Chief Medical Officers for England and Scotland are both women). However, gender gaps at a senior level still prevail as well as a gender pay gap. The Medical Women’s Federation is passionate about continuing to be a voice for women in medicine and is looking forward to evolving in line with the ever changing face of medicine.
We are so thrilled to share this celebration with you and look forward to meeting so many of you, some new faces, some old. If you are not able to join us this week, we will be live tweeting all centenary events over on Twitter (@MedicalWomenUK) using the hashtag #MWFCentenary.
The full programme for the week can be downloaded here.
