Connecting Underrepresented Medical Students to Resources and Role Models in Orthopaedic Surgery: A Virtual Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Summit

Shayom Debopadhaya, From the Albany Medical College, Albany, NY (Debopadhaya), the Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA (Saker), the Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (van Niekerk), the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC (Agarwal), the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC (Zhao), the University of Missouri Kansas City, Kansas City, MO (Amin), the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA (Bonaddio), the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC (Bracey), the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL (Cho), the New York Presbyterian/Columbia University, New York, NY (Czerwonka), the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (Dawes), the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC (Gu) Cooper Medical School of Rowan UniversityCamden, NJ (Hughes), the Atrium Health Musculoskeletal Institute, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Charlotte, NC (Kammire), the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL (Phillips), the George Washington University Hospital, Washington, DC (Ranson), the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH (Stach), the University of North Carolina, Department of Orthopaedics, Novant Health Orthopaedic Fracture Clinic, Chapel Hill, NC (Cannada), the Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (Shea), and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL (Mulcahey).
Christopher Saker
Maike van Niekerk
Amil R. Agarwal
Amy Zhao
Sheena Amin
Vincenzo Bonaddio
Lauren Bracey
Elizabeth Cho
Natalia Czerwonka
Alexander Dawes
Alex Gu
Isaiah Hughes
Maria Kammire
Tammy Phillips
Rachel Ranson
Christina Stach
Lisa K. Cannada
Kevin Shea
Mary K. Mulcahey

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

3-11-2025

Journal

The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

DOI

10.5435/JAAOS-D-24-00949

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Limited access to resources and stereotypes about orthopaedic surgeons may contribute to the low percentage of women and people of underrepresented in medicine (URiM) backgrounds in orthopaedic surgery. Several organizations have created resources to address these barriers, but medical students are unlikely to be exposed to the initiatives through traditional curricula. The purpose of this study was to (1) evaluate the ability of a 1-day virtual Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) summit to effectively reach URiM medical students, (2) increase medical students' knowledge of DEIA resources, and (3) augment the perception of diverse backgrounds in orthopaedic surgery. METHODS: A 1-day nationwide virtual summit was convened in October 2023. The summit invited residents and faculty leaders of diversity-focused orthopaedic organizations to speak with students in panel discussions and topic-focused breakout rooms. Pre- and postsummit surveys were used to determine whether the summit met the three goals. RESULTS: One hundred ninety-six medical students attended the summit. One hundred seventy-four surveys were received presummit, 106 surveys were received postsummit, and 60 students completed both. Most of the participants were female (n = 109, 63.0%), and many represented URiM backgrounds (n = 70, 41.7%). Postsummit, a notable number of survey respondents increased their knowledge about diversity-related opportunities (3.3% to 40%, P < 0.001). Participants who felt that their identity was welcome in orthopaedics nearly quadrupled from presummit (16.7%) to postsummit (63.3%) (P < 0.001), and the likelihood of recommending orthopaedic surgery to another medical student from an URiM demographic increased by 58.6% (P < 0.001). Among the 135 students who did not initially feel that their identity was welcome in the field of orthopaedic surgery, 124 (91.9%) rated changing stereotypes of the field as important to their decision to pursue a career in orthopaedics. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the ability for virtual summits to reach URiM students, increase their knowledge of DEIA resources, and augment their perceptions of diversity in orthopaedics. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

Department

Orthopaedic Surgery

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