Arghavan Salles

Salles was born in Iran and emigrated to the United States with her mother when she was five years old. While in high school Salles loved math.{{Cite web|url=https://blog.womensurgeons.org/women/fighting-sexism-workplace/|title=Association of Women Surgeons » Blog Archive » Strategies for Fighting Subtle Sexism in the Workplace|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}}{{Cite web|url=https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2020/03/09/identifying-and-addressing-gender-bias-in-health-care/|title=Identifying and addressing gender bias in health care|last=Huber|first=Jennifer|date=2020-03-09|website=Scope|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}}

In 2002, Salles received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and a B.A. in French from the University of Southern California.{{Cite web|url=https://profiles.stanford.edu/arghavan-salles?tab=bio|title=Stanford Profiles: Arghavan Salles|website=Stanford University|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}} In 2006, Salles received an M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine. Salles did a residency in general surgery from Stanford University School of Medicine from 2006 to 2015.{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4012840/doctors-on-life-support/|title=Doctors on Life Support|magazine=Time|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21|first=Mandy|last=Oaklander|pages=43–50|date=September 7, 2015}} In 2014, Salles completed a PhD social psychology from Stanford University, after which she finished her last two years of surgical residency, going on to become a Board Certified Surgeon in 2016. After finishing her residency and PhD in 2016, Salles then completed a year-long fellowship training in minimally invasive surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

While Salles was Chief Resident of General Surgery at Stanford, a graduate of the surgery program took his life just six months after graduating.{{Cite web |date=2020-01-14 |title=Ep 12: Arghavan Salles {{!}} Family Medicine {{!}} Michigan Medicine |url=https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/family-medicine/programs/mdisability/transforming-medical-education/ep-12-arghavan-salles |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607070945/https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/family-medicine/programs/mdisability/transforming-medical-education/ep-12-arghavan-salles |archive-date=June 7, 2020 |access-date=2020-04-21 |website=Family Medicine |language=en}} Salles has said that this event dramatically impacted the program to enact changes and educate the community about burnout, depression, and wellbeing in medicine. In 2011, she and a professor of surgery at Stanford at the time, Ralph Greco, created a "Balance in Life" program for surgery residents. This program included weekly psychotherapy session, mentor-mentee pairing between senior and junior residents, and support for residents in their search to find their own doctors and dentists for medical needs. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has since tried to model a nationwide wellness program after the Stanford program.

In addition to issues of mental health burden due to burnout, Salles also began to see evidence of inequities, bias, and gender harassment in medicine, specifically in surgery, so she took a break from her residency to pursue a PhD in education.{{Cite web |last=Salles |first=Arghavan |title=I am an angry woman. From workplace bias to sexist politics, we have a lot to be angry about. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2018/10/24/angry-women-voting-discrimination-column/1696287002/ |access-date=2020-04-21 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}

From September 2016 to June 2019, Salles was an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Washington University, where her lab conducted research on gender bias and inequities in medicine.{{Cite web|url=https://www.emedevents.com/speaker-profile/arghavan-salles|title=Arghavan Salles - Assistant Professor of Surgery, Bariatric Surgery in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America {{!}} eMedEvents|website=www.emedevents.com|access-date=2020-04-21}} In 2017, she developed an online wellness resource for Washington University residents that offered counselling and crisis lines.{{Cite web|url=https://surgery2017.wustl.edu/missions/education/education-news/|title=Education News {{!}} Surgery Annual Report 2017 {{!}} Washington University in St. Louis|website=surgery2017.wustl.edu|access-date=2020-04-21}}

In 2018, Salles became a founding member of Time's Up Healthcare, part of the organization's initiative which supports "safe, fair, and dignified" work for women around the world and helps to prevent sexual assault and gender-based discrimination in the workplace.{{Cite web|url=https://timesupfoundation.org/work/times-up-healthcare/meet-our-founding-members-in-health-care/|title=Meet our Founding Members in Health Care|website=TIME'S UP Foundation|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21|archive-date=June 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617092120/https://timesupfoundation.org/work/times-up-healthcare/meet-our-founding-members-in-health-care/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.womeninmedicinesummit.org/faculty|title=2019 FACULTY|website=Women in medicine|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21|archive-date=2020-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713130346/https://www.womeninmedicinesummit.org/faculty|url-status=dead}} This same year, she and five other female medical trainees at Washington University, helped start 500 Women in Medicine, a satellite of 500 Women Scientists{{cite news |last1=McCook |first1=Alison |date=28 March 2019 |title=New Group Aims To Give Voice to Women in Medicine |work=Clinical Oncology |url=https://www.clinicaloncology.com/Current-Practice/Article/03-19/New-Group-Aims-To-Give-Voice-to-Women-in-Medicine/54396 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713164818/https://www.clinicaloncology.com/Current-Practice/Article/03-19/New-Group-Aims-To-Give-Voice-to-Women-in-Medicine/54396 |archive-date=July 13, 2020}}{{Cite news |last=Blythe |first=Bernhard |date=13 January 2019 |title=Five St. Louis medical students launch 500 Women in Medicine advocacy project |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-medical-students/134016248/],[https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/134016388/] |work=St. Louis Post - Dispatch; St. Louis, Mo. |via=Proquest}} established to make medicine more inclusive and reflect the true diversity of society.{{Cite web|url=https://500womenscientists.org/updates/2018/12/2/500-women-in-medicine|title=500 Women in Medicine|website=500 Women Scientists|date=December 3, 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}}

In 2019, Salles became a Board Certified Physician of Obesity Medicine, and returned to Stanford to develop Educational Programs and Services at the medical school.{{Cite web|url=http://med.stanford.edu/eps/contacts.html|title=Leadership and Staff Contact Information|website=Educational Programs and Services (EPS)|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}} Her research focused on the representation of women at surgical conferences, implicit and explicit gender bias in healthcare and in performance evaluations, and how to maintain the health and wellbeing of physicians and medical trainees.{{Cite web|url=https://www.physiciansweekly.com/gender-bias-narratives-in-medicine/|title=Gender Bias Narratives in Medicine {{!}} Physician's Weekly|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}} She has also advocated against weight bias,{{Cite web|url=http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/918967|title=Fat Shaming Is Just Bullying|website=Medscape|access-date=2020-04-21}} and spoken publicly about the challenges faced by female doctors who want to have children.{{Cite news |last=Mroz |first=Jacqueline |date=2021-09-13 |title=A Medical Career, at a Cost: Infertility |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/13/health/women-doctors-infertility.html |access-date=2023-10-15 |issn=0362-4331}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic,{{Cite web|url=https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2020/04/07/social-distancing-fitness-challenge-and-other-ways-doctors-offer-support-during-the-pandemic/|title=Fitness challenge, meal donations and more: Stanford Medicine during social distancing|last=Sashin|first=Daphne|date=2020-04-07|website=Scope|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}} Salles created fitness challenges, free weekly yoga classes, and daily videos on Twitter and Instagram to engage her followers and bring together a supportive community. She also shared challenges women in medical fields face in getting personal protective equipment in sizes appropriate for a wide range of body sizes,{{Cite news |last=Kleinman |first=Zoe |date=2020-04-29 |title=PPE 'designed for women' needed on frontline |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52454741 |access-date=2023-10-24}} and issues associated with the requirements for in-persons admissions testing during the pandemic.{{Cite news |last=Aspegren |first=Elinor |date=2020-07-28 |title=High-stakes exams in-person only |pages=A7 |work=The Burlington Free Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-burlington-free-press-high-stakes-ex/134016736/ |access-date=2023-10-24}} In 2022 Salles expressed her concern that the United States has moved on from COVID too rapidly, and people are still at risk if they contract COVID.{{Cite news |last=Yang |first=Maya |date=August 19, 2022 |title='Most have thrown their hands up': has the US forgotten about Covid? |work=The Guardian (Online)Guardian News & Media Limited. |via=Proquest}}

In 2022, Salles was selected as a Director on the Board of Directors for the American Medical Women's Association,{{Cite web |title=Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD |url=https://www.amwa-doc.org/about-amwa/leadership/arghavan-salles-md-phd/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=American Medical Women's Association |language=en-US}} a nationally recognized organization, founded in 1915 that is committed to the advancement of women in medicine.

During her PhD, Salles learned about stereotype threat. Salles began to realize the ways in which stereotype threat might be affecting her and her female peers in their evaluations during her surgery residency. Salles' dissertation research focused on the negative stereotypes about women in surgery and how those affect women training to become surgeons.

Due to strongly ingrained gender biases in society, both patients and medical peers hold strong misconceptions that women are not as competent surgeons as men.{{Cite news |last=Stamp |first=Nikki |date=2019-08-01 |title=I’m a female surgeon. I feel uncomfortable telling girls they can be one, too. |language=en-US |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/07/29/im-female-surgeon-i-feel-uncomfortable-telling-girls-they-can-be-one-too/ |access-date=2023-10-21 |issn=0190-8286}} This is exemplified by the old "surgeon riddle" which unveils strong gender stereotypes in medicine such that the majority of the population much more easily associate surgeons with being male than being female.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bu.edu/articles/2014/bu-research-riddle-reveals-the-depth-of-gender-bias/|title=BU Research: A Riddle Reveals Depth of Gender Bias {{!}} BU Today|website=Boston University|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}} These stereotypes that society holds, about women being less competent surgeons than men, leads to a phenomenon called stereotype threat which Salles explored in her work. Salles hypothesized that stereotype threat, the fear of affirming a negative stereotype about one's group, causes women increased stress and leads to decreased performance in surgical residency.{{Cite journal|last1=Salles|first1=Arghavan|last2=Mueller|first2=Claudia M.|last3=Cohen|first3=Geoffrey L.|date=July 2016|title=A Values Affirmation Intervention to Improve Female Residents' Surgical Performance|journal=Journal of Graduate Medical Education|volume=8|issue=3|pages=378–383|doi=10.4300/JGME-D-15-00214.1|issn=1949-8349|pmc=4936856|pmid=27413441}} Salles tested this hypothesis by implementing methods to combat stress and stereotype threat through value affirmations.

Salles saw increases in the performance of female surgeons who had done value affirmation exercises compared to those who had not, suggesting that low-cost interventions targeted towards social-psychological well-being can improve female residents' performance. Salles later also showed that women surgeons who have higher stereotype perception have worse psychological health.{{Cite journal|last1=Salles|first1=Arghavan|last2=Mueller|first2=Claudia M.|last3=Cohen|first3=Geoffrey L.|date=January 2016|title=Exploring the Relationship Between Stereotype Perception and Residents' Well-Being|journal=Journal of the American College of Surgeons|volume=222|issue=1|pages=52–58|doi=10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2015.10.004|issn=1879-1190|pmc=4862580|pmid=26616033}}

At Washington University, Salles explored gender bias in clinical evaluations of surgical residents.{{Cite journal|last1=Gerull|first1=Katherine M.|last2=Loe|first2=Maren|last3=Seiler|first3=Kristen|last4=McAllister|first4=Jared|last5=Salles|first5=Arghavan|date=2019-02-01|title=Assessing gender bias in qualitative evaluations of surgical residents|url=https://www.americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(18)30631-7/abstract|journal=The American Journal of Surgery|language=English|volume=217|issue=2|pages=306–313|doi=10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.09.029|issn=0002-9610|pmid=30343879|pmc=8687875 }} Their results, published in The American Journal of Surgery in 2018, showed that evaluations display gendered differences and the overall tones of men's evaluations were more positive and included more standout words than women's. Salles and her colleagues then used the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess implicit biases in the medical field.{{Cite journal|last1=Salles|first1=Arghavan|last2=Awad|first2=Michael|last3=Goldin|first3=Laurel|last4=Krus|first4=Kelsey|last5=Lee|first5=Jin Vivian|last6=Schwabe|first6=Maria T.|last7=Lai|first7=Calvin K.|date=2019-07-03|title=Estimating Implicit and Explicit Gender Bias Among Health Care Professionals and Surgeons|url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2737309|journal=JAMA Network Open|language=en|volume=2|issue=7|pages=e196545|doi=10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.6545|pmid=31276177|doi-access=free|pmc=12064094}} They found that respondents associated men with career and surgery while they associated women with family and family medicine.{{Cite news |last=Mathias |first=Tamara |date=2019-08-10 |title=Study suggests gender bias in doctors |pages=C7 |work=The Vancouver Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun-study-suggests-gender/133466602/ |access-date=2023-10-15}}

Salles also explores different facets of how well-being impacts the retention of residents in the progression towards careers in surgery. In 2018, Salles found that feelings of social belonging were positively correlated with well-being and negatively correlated with thoughts of leaving surgery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327773263|title=Social Belonging as a Predictor of Surgical Resident Well-being and Attrition {{!}} Request PDF|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}} She then explored how general self-efficacy impacted retention in surgical specialties and found that self-efficacy was a strong predictor of well-being, which prevents physician burnout and improves retention in the medical field.{{Cite journal|last1=Milam|first1=Laurel|last2=Cohen|first2=Geoffrey|last3=Mueller|first3=Claudia|last4=Salles|first4=Arghavan|date=2018-09-01|title=The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Well-Being Among Surgical Residents|journal=Journal of Surgical Education|volume=76|issue=2|pages=321–328|doi=10.1016/j.jsurg.2018.07.028|pmid=30245061|pmc=6380924}}

• 2019: Women in Medicine Summit, #IStandWithHer Award Honorable Mention{{Cite web |title=WIM Award Winners |url=https://www.womeninmedicinesummit.org/wim-award-winners |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=Women in Medicine |language=en-US}}
• 2019: American Medical Women's Association, Exceptional Mentor Award
• 2019: Society of Asian American Surgeons, Visiting Professor{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Eugene |title=Visiting Professors {{!}} The Society of Asian Academic Surgeons (SAAS) |url=https://www.asiansurgeon.org/awards/saas-visiting-professors/ |access-date=2023-10-24 |language=en-US}}
• 2020: ABIM Top Research Article Award on Medical Professionalism Estimating Implicit and Explicit Gender Bias Among Health Care Professionals and Surgeons{{cite web |title=ABIM Foundation Recognizes Top Articles on Medical Professionalism |url=https://abimfoundation.org/pressrelease/abim-foundation-recognizes-top-articles-on-medical-professionalism |website=ABIM Foundation}}

• 2018–present: 500 Women in Medicine, co-founder; advisor (2018-2019){{Cite web |date=September 12, 2018 |title=6 women awarded for research on gender bias in medical training |url=https://www.ama-assn.org/education/medical-school-diversity/6-women-awarded-research-gender-bias-medical-training |access-date=2020-04-21 |website=American Medical Association |language=en}}
• 2018–present: Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, Creative Director and Associate Editor
• 2018–present: TIME'S UP Healthcare, Founding Member{{Cite web|url=https://www.womeninmedicinesummit.org/faculty|title=2019 FACULTY|website=Women in medicine|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21|archive-date=2020-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713130346/https://www.womeninmedicinesummit.org/faculty|url-status=dead}}
• 2022-present: Director on Board of Directors of American Medical Women's Association{{Cite web |title=About AMWA |url=https://www.amwa-doc.org/about-amwa/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=American Medical Women's Association |language=en-US}}

{{Scholia|author}}

• {{cite journal|last1=Salles|first1=Arghavan|last2=Cohen|first2=Geoffrey L.|last3=Mueller|first3=Claudia M.|title=The relationship between grit and resident well-being|journal=Association for Surgical Education|date=February 2014|volume=207|issue=2|pages=251–4|doi=10.1016/j.amjsurg.2013.09.006|pmid=24238604|url=https://www.americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(13)00603-X/fulltext|url-access=subscription}} {{Wikidata+icon|Q28302035|y}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Salles |first1=Arghavan |last2=Awad |first2=Michael |last3=Goldin |first3=Laurel |last4=Krus |first4=Kelsey |last5=Lee |first5=Jin Vivian |last6=Schwabe |first6=Maria T. |last7=Lai |first7=Calvin K. |title=Estimating Implicit and Explicit Gender Bias Among Health Care Professionals and Surgeons |journal=JAMA Network Open |date=5 July 2019 |volume=2 |issue=7 |pages=e196545 |doi=10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.6545 |pmid=31276177 |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2737309 |doi-access=free|pmc=12064094 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Gerull |first1=Katherine M. |last2=Loe |first2=Maren |last3=Seiler |first3=Kristen |last4=McAllister |first4=Jared |last5=Salles |first5=Arghavan |title=Assessing gender bias in qualitative evaluations of surgical residents |journal=The American Journal of Surgery |date=February 2019 |volume=217 |issue=2 |pages=306–313 |doi=10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.09.029 |pmid=30343879 |pmc=8687875 |url=https://www.americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(18)30631-7/fulltext}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Salles |first1=Arghavan |last2=Choo |first2=Esther K |title=Queen Bee phenomenon: a consequence of the hive |journal=The Lancet |date=March 2020 |volume=395 |issue=10228 |pages=940 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30597-3 |pmid=32199482 |url=https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(20)30597-3.pdf |doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Lin |first1=Dana T. |last2=Liebert |first2=Cara A. |last3=Tran |first3=Jennifer |last4=Lau |first4=James N. |last5=Salles |first5=Arghavan |title=Emotional Intelligence as a Predictor of Resident Well-Being |journal=Journal of the American College of Surgeons |date=August 2016 |volume=223 |issue=2 |pages=352–358 |doi=10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2016.04.044 |pmid=27182037 |url=https://www.journalacs.org/article/S1072-7515(16)30142-9/fulltext|url-access=subscription }}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://profiles.stanford.edu/arghavan-salles Arghavan Salles] at Stanford University School of Medicine
• {{Google Scholar ID|id=cjPaFa0AAAAJ&hl}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Salles, Arghavan}}

Category:Living people

Category:American women physicians

Category:American physicians

Category:Bariatrics

Category:Stanford University School of Medicine faculty

Category:University of Southern California alumni

Category:American people of Iranian descent

Category:1980 births

Category:Washington University in St. Louis fellows

Category:Washington University School of Medicine faculty