Being a Woman and an Orthopaedic Surgeon – A Primer on the Challenges We Face

Women are avoiding pursuing training and entering Orthopaedics compared to other surgical specialties. [1]This reality contradicts data showing that medical schools admit and graduate more women than ever (56.9%).[2] In the United States, orthopaedic surgery ranks the lowest compared to other medical and surgical specialties for representation by gender. This trend is evident globally with very low percentages of women in Orthopaedics worldwide. (Table 1) [3]