What Is the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) Website?

The Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) website, womensurgeons.org, is the online home of a not-for-profit educational and professional organization founded in 1981. It serves surgeons of all genders who want to support women in surgery, with roughly 3,700 members across more than 40 countries. The site is the main entry point for membership, events, mentorship programs, career resources, and foundation giving.

Who AWS Is For

AWS describes its mission as inspiring, encouraging, and enabling women surgeons to realize their professional and personal goals. Its stated commitment is to support women surgeons at every career stage—from medical school through retirement.

That scope shows up in how the site organizes its content:

• Medical students — journal club, a surgical mentorship program, and outreach such as the Rebecca Crumpler High School Outreach Program
• Residents and fellows — clinical practice coaching and mentorship offerings
• Practicing surgeons — a speaker directory, publications and eBooks, and toolkits
• All members — networking events, a job board, and opportunities listings

Membership is open beyond women surgeons: AWS notes it has approximately 3,700 members of all genders, and the site includes an allyship resource section, so the organization frames itself as a community that includes supporters as well as women in the field.

What You Can Do on the Site

The site is structured around a few practical functions rather than being a pure information page.

Join or manage membership

The primary call to action is "Join Now," with membership categories, member benefits, institutional memberships, and gift memberships listed. There is also a member login and profile area, which implies members manage their own accounts.

Find events and programs

The events section covers a calendar, a conference, a gala, a networking breakfast, and virtual programs. Past events are archived, including a past webinar library and the 2024 and 2025 annual conferences—useful if you want to see what the programming looks like before committing.

Access career and professional resources

Resources are grouped by audience (medical students, residents and fellows) and by topic, including a gender equity toolkit and allyship resources. There is also a speaker directory, a job board, and a survey distribution service.

Explore opportunities and recognition

The opportunities section lists current openings, visiting professorships and host institutions, a signature speaker series, and a reviewer academy. Awards are handled through the foundation side of the site, covering attending awards, trainee awards, and visiting professorships.

Support or get sponsored

For organizations, there are sponsor AWS options for both membership and events, plus advertising and sponsorship of the job board and survey distribution. For individuals, the foundation section covers donations, a 2026 gala, donor recognition, annual giving, monthly donors, and endowments.

What the Site Does Not Tell You Up Front

A few things are worth knowing before you rely on the site for a decision:

• Pricing is not stated in the material available here. Membership categories and benefits are listed, but no dues or fee amounts appear, so you should check the membership page directly for current costs.
• Login is required for member-only areas. The presence of a member login and profile section means some resources are gated; you cannot assume everything is open access.
• The site is in English and US-oriented in its framing, though AWS describes itself as international with members in more than 40 countries.

How to Decide If It's Relevant to You

If your goal is to understand what AWS offers before joining, start with the membership benefits page and the resources section for your career stage. If your goal is to attend or present, the events calendar and past conference archives will tell you more about the format than the homepage does.