The Orthopaedic Workforce Is Not as Diverse as the Population It Serves: Where Are the Minorities and the Women?

The lack of sex and racial diversity of the physicians within the specialty of orthopaedic surgery was recognized decades ago, and formal steps to address these issues began in 1983 with the founding of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society and the J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society. Despite the efforts of these organizations, the work of other interested groups, and the growing diversity in medical student demographics, physician diversity in orthopaedic surgery remains disproportionately poor relative to the populations that we serve as a specialty.