A support group for women in medicine

I recently reconnected with an old friend and colleague, Dr. Jane Charters, a family physician whom I worked with in the Oakville, Ont. ER in the 1990s. Jane has been practicing family medicine in the community for 37 years, and during our conversation, she shared the story of a women physicians’ support group she founded 25 years ago. I felt it was worth sharing, as it may resonate with many women in medicine.In August 2000, a shocking event shook Jane deeply: a female family physician she knew peripherally died by suicide in Toronto, stepping in front of a subway train while holding her six-month-old baby who also died. It later emerged that she had been suffering from severe post-partum depression. For Jane, this tragedy underscored the reality of the “wounded healer” and the urgent need for women physicians to have a safe, supportive space to talk openly about the unique pressures they face in medicine.In response, Jane founded the Halton Women Physicians Group, creating a regular opportunity for women physicians to gather under the framework of CME, but primarily to build community and connection through a practical peer-resource network. Over time, the group has grown to include more than 160 women across all specialties. They meet monthly at a local restaurant, where 25-to-30 participants typically join in meaningful discussion, learning and mutual support. Physicians at every career stage, including those who are retired, participate—something Jane says enriches the group with a broad range of personal and professional lived experiences.Hearing about this group struck a chord with me. So many women physicians I speak with describe the competing pressures of medical practice, caregiving for children, supporting aging parents and managing the emotional labour that often defaults to them. Many carry a persistent sense of guilt, rarely carve out time for themselves, and lack the built-in support at home that many male physicians historically benefited from. Jane’s group offers a rare and much-needed place to address these realities honestly and without judgment.Jane was recently elected as a “Hive Leader” for the Canadian Women in Medicine (CWIM), a national non-profit dedicated to connecting and supporting women physicians across Canada. As a Hive Leader, Jane will help foster local networking, education, and wellness activities—work that aligns naturally with her long-standing commitment to strengthening her local medical community. She looks forward to stepping into this role when the program launches in 2026.Jane believes deeply in the importance of collegiality, community, and building diverse supports into our professional and personal lives. She reflected on how much her colleagues have supported one another through the predictable and unpredictable challenges of being both physicians and caregivers. She emphasizes listening to our own inner signals, tending to basic needs like eating, hydrating, moving, resting, spending time in nature and stepping away from work when needed. These practices, she notes, are essential to well-being, yet too often neglected in medical training and culture. Strong community connections, according to an 80-year Harvard study, are associated with increased longevity and higher quality of life.Jane has already mentored several younger physicians to establish similar women-physician groups in their own communities and hopes many more will follow—women and men—so that strong, healthy medical communities can flourish across the country.If you would like to connect with Jane or learn more about starting a similar group in your region, you can reach out through me at drjohncrosby@rogers.com.For those interested in learning more about CWIM, visit cwimorg.com. There may be a Hive Leader in your area in the coming year.Both Jane and I also work with the Ontario Medical Association’s Physician Health Program and offer free, confidential peer support. Free burnout support and mentoring and coaching for all doctors is available on my website at www.countryquack.com

A support group for women in medicine

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JohnWyatt Crosby

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