Gender Diversity in Orthopedic Surgery: We All Know It's Lacking, but Why?

Abstract

Background: 15% of orthopedic surgery trainees in 2018-2019 in ACGME accredited programs are female, which lags behind all other specialties.

Methods: The bottleneck for achieving gender diversity in orthopedic surgery is that female medical students do not choose orthopedic surgery as a career. In 2018-2019, twelve ACGME accredited programs had no women trainees, highlighting the uneven distribution of female trainees across residency programs. Social science has outlined that 30% representation within a population is the diversity goal.

Conclusion: A goal of having females comprise 30% of orthopedic surgeons trainees can be achieved with: pipeline programs such as the Perry Initiative and Nth Dimensions; increased orthopedic surgery rotation clinical experience during medical school; and mentorship that promotes and encourages gender diversity. Additionally, recognizing implicit bias as well as explicit discrimination, harassment, and bullying, creates a workplace environment that is inclusive and safe for employees, trainees and physicians, as well as the patients that we serve.Level of Evidence: V.

Keywords: diversity; gender; orthopedic; residency; surgery.