Last month, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) published the monograph A Shared Commitment to Fair Pay: Recommendations for Attaining and Sustaining Compensation Equity in Academic Medicine, a comprehensive roadmap for medical schools and academic health systems to advance fair and equitable faculty compensation. The publication, which was developed by the AAMC Compensation Equity Advisory Committee, acknowledges persistent pay disparities in academic medicine and offers actionable strategies drawn from evidence, expert insights, and case studies.

The commitment outlines three core areas of focus:

  1. Leadership and Accountability: Institutional leaders must prioritize compensation equity, build consensus across units, and communicate a clear commitment, including joint statements and timelines, from the school of medicine, university, and health system.
  2. Compensation Models and Processes: Institutions should develop governance structures and compensation philosophies that promote transparency, standardize pay practices, and incorporate equitable measures for both clinical and non-clinical work.
  3. Funding and Sustainability: The guide identifies strategies for budgeting and financing equity adjustments, ensuring that equitable pay is sustained long-term.

Throughout, case studies illustrate successful efforts to integrate equitable compensation practices into institutional culture, underscoring fair pay as essential to recruiting, retaining, and advancing academic medical faculty.

AMWA’s Continued Commitment to Equitable Pay

Equitable pay has long been a central focus for AMWA as part of our broader mission to advance gender equity in medicine. We have advocated for equal pay, greater transparency in compensation structures, increased representation of women in leadership, and the elimination of gender-based pay disparities and discrimination. This commitment is rooted in over a century of work to uplift women physicians and dismantle systemic barriers within academic and clinical medicine.

Recent GEMS Alliance Webinar on Fair Pay

The Gender Equity in Medicine and Science (GEMS) Alliance (co-founded by AMWA). recently hosted the webinar, “Fair Pay Strategies and Stewardship” which brought together expert faculty to explore how compensation is shaped, the forces that drive persistent pay gaps, and why transparency and stewardship are critical to sustainable equity. Speakers included Drs. Amy S. Gottlieb (a key author of the AAMC publication), Libby Ellinas, and Jenny Mladenovic. The discussion reinforced the fact that achieving equitable compensation requires not only data and analysis, but also leadership, shared accountability, and sustained institutional commitment. By convening experts and elevating evidence-based approaches, AMWA and its partners are continuing to advance informed dialogue and collective action toward greater pay equity in academic medicine.

Recommended Readings:

Dandar VM, Gottlieb AS, Lautenberger DM, Lee ME, Paardekooper AM. A Shared Commitment to Fair Pay: Recommendations for Attaining and Sustaining Compensation Equity in Academic Medicine. AAMC; 2026.

Gottlieb AS. Closing the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine: A Roadmap for Healthcare Organizations and the Women Physicians Who Work for Them. Springer; 2021.