Table 1.

Survey Questions of Women Physician Participants

Election history and outcomes

(1) Have you ran for an elected office during your school (high school thru medical school) years?

(2) If yes, did you win?

(3) Since you finished your medical training have you ever run for an elected office at your workplace?

(4) If you ran for an elected office at work, did you win?

(5) Since you finished your medical training have you ever run for an elected office at medical or other professional society?

(6) If you ran for an elected office at a medical or professional society, did you win?

(7) Since you finished your medical training have you ever run for an elected political/government office (local, regional, national)?

(8) If you ran for an elected political/government office, did you win?

Reasons to run for elected positions

(1) In the past, have you considered running for an elective position?

(2) In the past, has anyone encouraged you to run for office?

(3) Who has encouraged you to run for office?

(4) Did the person/people who encouraged you to run in the past offer specific support that would help you to be successful in your candidacy?

(5) What else would encourage you to run for office?

Barriers to running for elected positions

(1) When considering whether you will run for an elected position in the future, what PERSONAL BARRIERS do you think you will face for an elective position?

(2) When considering whether you will run for an elected position in the future, what OTHER BARRIERS do you think you will face?

Women physicians in elected positions

(1) It is important to have women physicians in elected offices, because they provide value in improving health care delivery.

(2) It is important to have women physicians in elected offices in medical and/or professional societies, because they provide value to the organization.

(3) It is important to have women physicians in elected government/political offices, because they provide a more balanced dialogue over important policy issues.

(4) More women physicians should be in elected positions at work.

(5) More women physicians should be in elected positions in medical and/or professional societies.

(6) More women physicians should be in elected positions in the government.

Future possibility of running for elected positions

(1) In the future, I would consider running for an elected office at work.

(2) In the future, I would consider running for an elected office at a medical or professional society.

(3) In the future, I would consider running for an elected political office.

(4) Learning more about disparities in compensation, promotion and other problems for women physicians has encouraged me to consider running for office in the future.

(5) Learning more about how patients are suffering and the need for policy changes has encouraged me to consider running for office in the future.

(6) Watching the current people in office do their jobs ineffectively has encouraged me to consider running for office in the future.

(7) If I was connected to a team of highly skilled individuals who offered me both training and financial support, I would consider running for political office in the future.