Diversity and Inclusion in Orthopaedic Surgery from Medical School to Practice: AOA Critical Issues

Abstract

Orthopaedic surgery has historically been one of the least diverse fields in medicine in the U.S. Despite having been declared a critical issue by the American Orthopaedic Association, a lack of diversity and inclusion across all metrics remains a persistent problem. In order to balance representation within orthopaedic surgery, a multiyear and multilevel approach should be considered across the life cycle of a surgeon. Talented individuals from diverse backgrounds must be identified and given early exposure to orthopaedic surgery. They must be nurtured, mentored, and retained. Representation at the medical student, resident, and faculty level is vital to ensuring diversity across the next generation of surgeons.We cannot alter representation within orthopaedics unless we broaden the candidate selection pool. Medical school classes provide the selection pool for residency, residency provides the candidates for fellowship, fellowships provide the candidates for employment, and employment provides the pool for promotion to leadership positions. Through each progression, there is a loss of underrepresented applicants, which leads to a lack of balanced representation in orthopaedic surgery. With stronger efforts to identify and retain individuals at each phase of a surgeon's career, we hope to mitigate the loss of talented and diverse individuals from this field.We challenge the paradigm of increasing diversity that focuses only on the resident selection level. Instead, efforts must begin at the medical student level. Efforts for early and meaningful exposure to the field through a musculoskeletal curriculum and rotations as well as connection through mentorship and sponsorship are vital for retention. At each ascending level of education, reinvestment in each individual is critical. Exposure, mentorship, retention, and promotion should lead to a more diverse and rich future. To achieve this, deliberate and longitudinal action should be instituted to increase diversity within orthopaedics.