News

Welcome, Dr. Arora!

Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, assumes new role as Dean for Medical Education at the Pritzker School of Medicine

The Pritzker School of Medicine is excited to welcome Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, the Herbert T. Abelson Professor of Medicine, as its new Dean for Medical Education. With a track record of innovation and a passion for improving medical education, Dr. Arora brings an exciting new energy sure to be felt across the educational continuum at Pritzker and beyond.

Previously, Dr. Arora served as Pritzker’s Assistant Dean of Scholarship & Discovery for more than a decade, overseeing all aspects of research training programs for MD students. In this role and in her direction of the NIH-funded Pritzker Summer Research Program, she has mentored countless students on a wide range of research topics. A pioneering researcher and award-winning mentor herself, Dr. Arora is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, often with medical students, and her work has been cited more than 10,000 times. Dr. Arora’s past research on resident sleep, fatigue, and handoffs has also spurred changes to the clinical learning environment, including adjustments to residency duty hours. She has been featured in coverage by the New York Times and NPR, and she is a leading voice in medicine on social media.

Dr. Arora also assumes her new role with previous experience as Associate Chief Medical Officer, Clinical Learning Environment at University of Chicago. In that role, she worked with educational and hospital leadership to effectively integrate residents, fellows, faculty and staff into the quality, safety, and value missions of the institution. In this role, she has led innovations funded by AMA, ACGME and the Macy Foundation to improve training in health systems science and team-based care. In her commitment to continuous improvement of the learning environment for medical trainees, Dr. Arora prioritizes equal opportunity and equity. She has received National Institute of Health (NIH) funding to examine novel methods for using social media to expose minority youth to careers in medical research and also co-leads an NIH-funded research team focused on improving mentor training for women and minority medical students at eight medical schools. Furthermore, Dr. Arora believes medical training must include issues of social justice and honestly address inequities in medicine so that students, residents, fellows, and faculty alike can contribute meaningfully to improving care for everyone, including those here in the surrounding communities on the South Side of Chicago.

After completing her undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Arora received her Doctor of Medicine degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She then completed her residency (internal medicine) and chief residency (general internal medicine) as well as a master’s in public policy at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Arora succeeds Halina Brukner, MD, who retired after almost 40 years at UChicago, including 36 years as a faculty member and primary care physician and 16 years at the Pritzker School of Medicine, with the last three as Dean for Medical Education. Everyone at Pritzker is tremendously grateful for Dr. Brukner’s leadership and particularly for her steady guidance as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted all aspects of life and learning. Her contributions to Pritzker are impossible to measure in full, and her impact will be felt for years to come.

Please join us in thanking Dr. Brukner for her many years of service to the University of Chicago, and in welcoming Dr. Arora as she assumes her new role.