Preinvisible: An Early-Career Perspective on a Midcareer Phenomenon

In this commentary, a female early-career academic physician reflects on her experiences with microinequities in the workplace. Using a recent publication describing the experience of midcareer academic women physicians as a launching point, the author discusses the experiences that early-career women in medicine commonly have. In training and early career, women are exposed to subtle barriers, aggressions, and inequities, which build over time. By midcareer, some women leave medicine or if they remain in medicine, they have likely not reached the salary or promotion levels of men. Ultimately, the author questions if trainees and early-career women in academic medicine are simply in a "preinvisible" phase of their careers. Ways to address the microinequities are offered.