American Medical Association Awards Grant to Loma Linda University Professor

A Loma Linda University professor has been awarded a 2012 Joan F. Giambalvo Memorial Scholarship Grant by the American Medical Association Foundation, a university spokeswoman announced Thursday.

Lisa Kairis, MD, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, is one of five women across the U.S. to receive the grant of up to $10,000, LLU spokeswoman Briana Pastorino said.

The grant was presented in partnership with the AMA Women Physicians Congress, Pastorino said in a statement.

Kairis earned the grant to work on her proposed study, "Gender Differences in Practice Patterns of Obstetricians/Gynecologists: A Critical Shortage of Female Obstetricians Who Perform Deliveries," Pastorino said.

The study "will ultimately determine the difference in the proportion of male and female obstetrician/gynecologist physicians who stop performing deliveries," Pastorino said. "It will also verify the difference in age between male and female OB/GYNs when they stop performing deliveries when stratified by five-year age increments."

Kairis began the one-year research study in May 2012, Pastorino said.

The 2012 grants were awarded "to advance the progress of women in the medical profession and to strengthen the ability to identify and address the needs of women in medicine, including medical students," Pastorino said.

Women form one-third of the physician workforce and half of those who matriculate into medical school, according to Claudia Reardon, MD, Chair of the AMA Women Physicians Congress.

"If we are going to meet the needs of an increasing patient population, we need to invest in research that improves our knowledge of the challenges and opportunities for women in medicine," Reardon said in prepared remarks.

The AMA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt foundation. For more information visit www.amafoundation.org.

The AMA Women Physicians Congress is comprised of more than 67,000 female members of the AMA.

Loma Linda University is a Seventh-day Adventist educational health-sciences institution with more than 4,300 students.