Every March, Women’s History Month celebrates the achievements of women in history and society. As part of Women’s History Month, we are sharing a report looking at the experiences of current and potential orthopaedic surgeons and changes they would like to see.

Trauma and Orthopaedics is one of the surgical specialties with the lowest representation of women. In 2020, women made up 20.6% at specialty registrar level and 7.3% at consultant level; compared to 34.2% and 16.1% across 10 surgical specialities [1] and women making up 64% of people accepted onto medicine and dentistry courses in the UK [2]. Despite female representation in orthopaedics increasing 2011-2020, gender parity is not expected in specialty registrars until 2070 [1].      

This report explores the following questions:

1. How do female medical students, foundation year (FY) doctors, orthopaedic trainees and surgeons perceive the specialism?
2. Which factors contribute to medical students deciding whether to pursue orthopaedics?
3. Which challenges are faced by current and aspiring female orthopaedic surgeons?
4. Which types of support could be provided?

[1] Gender diversity in UK surgical. Newman, TH, et al. 2, 2022, BMJ Open, Vol. 12.

[2] The Royal College of Surgeons of England. Statistics. [Online] 2023. https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/careers-in-surgery/women-in-surgery/statistics/.

Resources

The following links are provided for individuals looking for support, networks and allyship:

• The Royal College of Surgeons of England’s Women in Surgery network
• Women in Orthopaedics Worldwide
• BOTA WinS (Women In Orthopaedics UK)
• Inclusion and Allyship in Orthopaedic Surgery Training and Practice
• Allies in Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery
• NOA Webinar Women in Orthopaedics
• Some aspects to consider in order to end sexism in medicine and support parents during postgraduate training
• Female pioneers in orthopaedic surgery

You may also be interested in

International Women’s Day: Interview with Early Careers Research Fellow, Trauma and Orthopaedic consultant and British Orthopaedic Association EDI Representative,  Ms Salma Chaudhury. 

Applications for the Daphne Jackson/ORUK fellowship