Why We’re Showing Up: Power of Women in Medicine

They say “empowerment”—we say: prove it.

We’ve heard the slogans. “Be a girl boss.” “Break the glass ceiling.” We’ve sat through the panels, nodded through the keynotes, and smiled at the team outings.

And yet—still overworked, underpaid, and negotiating for basic care and respect. 

According to the Women in the Workplace report by Lean In and McKinsey, gender parity is still 50 years away. Entry-level hiring gaps persist, leadership pipelines are fragile, and now? Companies—including those in healthcare—are scaling back the very programs that were supposed to fix this.

Even worse, the policy ground is shifting beneath us. DEI programs have been revoked across the country. The CMS Health Equity Advisory Committee disbanded. Diversity guidance erased from FDA trial standards. Across the board, gender equity is being quietly shelved—and women’s health, identity, and voices are being erased in real time.

How? By banning the very words used to talk about them: abortion. Mental health. Trauma. Gender identity. Equity. Even “woman”.

At HIT Like a Girl, we talk to women who are brilliant, bold—and doing everything "right" yet still feeling stuck. Not because they’ve failed. But because the system keeps asking more of them while offering less.

That’s why we’re showing up.

This isn’t just another “leadership summit.” It’s a refusal to be sidelined. The Power of Women in Medicine Summit is where ideas get sharpened, voices get louder, and action gets organized.

We’re not attending for optics. We’re there because healthcare can’t afford to lose more women to burnout, to bias, or to silence. 

Let’s say the quiet part out loud:
Empowerment alone isn’t enough. We’re done talking. We need action.