Community, Events & Media Policy

Effective Date: April 1, 2026

Community Guidelines

Women in Surgery is designed to support mentorship, education, connection, and professional growth. All participants are expected to engage respectfully, professionally, and in good faith.

• Treat students, trainees, surgeons, mentors, speakers, sponsors, staff, and attendees with respect.
• Avoid harassment, discrimination, bullying, intimidation, or inappropriate conduct.
• Respect confidentiality when personal, academic, career, or professional experiences are shared.
• Use mentorship and community spaces for constructive, educational, and professional purposes.
• Avoid sharing patient-identifying information, confidential institutional information, or protected health information.
• Disclose conflicts, sponsorships, or promotional relationships where appropriate.

Moderation

WIS may remove content, deny participation, revoke access, or take other action if behavior violates these guidelines, creates safety concerns, disrupts programming, or is inconsistent with the mission of WIS.

Event Waiver

By registering for, attending, or participating in a WIS event, symposium, workshop, networking session, mentorship program, or related activity, you acknowledge that participation may involve ordinary risks associated with travel, public gatherings, professional events, educational programming, and interactions with other participants.

You voluntarily assume responsibility for your participation and agree to follow event rules, venue rules, health and safety instructions, and applicable laws. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release WIS and its directors, officers, team members, volunteers, speakers, mentors, sponsors, partners, and venue providers from claims arising out of your participation, except where prohibited by law.

Photo and Media Release

WIS events and programs may be photographed, recorded, livestreamed, or otherwise documented. By attending or participating, you grant WIS permission to capture and use your name, image, likeness, voice, statements, testimonials, photographs, video, and audio in connection with WIS educational, promotional, archival, fundraising, sponsorship, social media, website, and community-related purposes.

This permission may include use in websites, social media, email, printed materials, sponsorship decks, event recaps, promotional videos, educational resources, and related WIS communications. You understand that WIS is not required to compensate you for such use.

Opt-Out Requests

If you do not want to be photographed or recorded, please notify WIS before the event when possible and speak with event staff upon arrival. WIS will make reasonable efforts to honor opt-out requests, but cannot guarantee exclusion from all crowd images, background footage, livestreams, or public event documentation.

Accessibility

WIS is committed to making its website, events, and digital resources accessible to as many people as possible. If you experience difficulty accessing any part of the website or need information in an alternative format, please contact us with the page URL, a description of the issue, and the assistance you need.

Contact

For questions about community participation, events, accessibility, waivers, or media permissions, contact: [CONTACT EMAIL]