Dr. Vineet Arora is the Dean for Medical Education at the University of Chicago and one of the nation’s leading voices on equity, leadership, and physician well-being. Her groundbreaking research has exposed how gender bias and pay inequity continue to shape medicine—from how residents are evaluated to how faculty are promoted and paid. But more importantly, she’s focused on what can be done about it.
On this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Dr. Arora about why women physicians still earn less than their male peers—and the systemic, cultural, and personal strategies that can finally close the gap. They discuss the hidden ways bias shows up in training and evaluations, how compounding pay inequities add up to millions over a career, and what real pay transparency should look like. Dr. Arora also shares practical advice for early-career physicians on negotiation, knowing your value, and finding professional fulfillment without burning out.
This episode will challenge how you think about pay, power, and progress in medicine—and what each of us can do to make equity the norm, not the exception.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- The real data behind the $2 million lifetime gender pay gap in medicine.
- How bias in evaluations and promotions starts as early as residency.
- Why pay transparency alone won’t fix inequity and what else needs to change.
- How fair pay connects directly to feeling valued, supported, and able to keep practicing the medicine you love.
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