What’s Important: Diversity Mentoring and Advocacy in Orthopaedics

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Orthopaedic surgery is the least diverse surgical specialty in medicine1. One recent report showed that, from 2005 to 2014, racial and ethnic minority applicants enrolled in orthopaedic residencies at a notably lower rate than White applicants2. A number of avenues exist for encouraging greater diversity in our profession. We present a unique example of diversity mentoring and advocacy from 2 perspectives: the mentor and the mentee. Becoming a Mentor I met Joel Bervell at a Ron Brown Scholar Program gala event in March 2019, when my wife introduced me to this wonderful organization for young African American scholars. An affable, accomplished, and enthusiastic Yale graduate, Joel now attends Washington State University Medical School. His parents were born in Ghana and Ivory Coast. As Joel expressed a keen interest in orthopaedic surgery, we chatted about orthopaedic career options. I tried to impart as much helpful knowledge as possible. However, I wondered about Joel’s career opportunities. I was touched by meeting this young man, and I contemplated whether I could help him on his career path. Did he have a clear picture of what an orthopaedic career entails? Did he understand the complexities of navigating the orthopaedic residency selection process? Had he completed any research projects? Did he have any mentors in orthopaedics? As Joel finished his first year in medical school, he inquired about research opportunities. I invited him to collaborate on my research on inset glenoid fixation. He participated in manuscript writing and revisions and created multiple 3-dimensional animations to demonstrate the advantages of the inset glenoid surgical method. It was my hope that our collaboration would assist Joel in learning about the research process, orthopaedics, and this particular area of shoulder surgery. He made substantial contributions to his first published article, “Inset Glenoid Technology: A Paradigm Shift in Shoulder Replacement Surgery,” which was published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Experience & Innovation in July 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated Joel’s summer internship at New York University, I wanted to play a stronger role in Joel’s orthopaedic mentorship. I felt fortunate to meet a great candidate for our profession. Joel is smart, energetic, passionate, and humble. He has advanced leadership experience, and he cares deeply about other people. We orthopaedic surgeons, as leaders, academicians, and researchers, have tremendously helpful knowledge for mentoring. As an example, I was very fortunate to learn orthopaedics from my father and grandfather, who were both prominent orthopaedic surgeons. I previously served as a faculty member at the University of California (UC) San Francisco and as a researcher at UC Berkeley. Why not share that academic experience? On further thought, I also realized that a more comprehensive type of mentorship could potentially provide greater knowledge and wisdom to a young scholar. I offered Joel an “orthopaedic immersion” summer internship. Joel lived with our family, accompanied me to work, participated in my research, and learned the daily life of an orthopaedic surgeon. He became a member of our family, joining us on outings and activities. He also became a mentor to our 14-year-old twin boys. While Joel may credit this experience as being inspirational for his career, I would argue that our lives were enriched even more as our perspective broadened and our empathy expanded. On Being Mentored: Joel Bervell’s Perspective When Dr. Gunther generously offered to fly me to Charlottesville, Virginia, for a 5-week mini-orthopaedic surgery experience, I was thrilled. It was one of the kindest gestures anyone has ever offered to me, and it turned out to be one of my greatest summer experiences. Over the span of 5 weeks, I learned about various aspects of orthopaedic surgery, such as reading radiographs, performing orthopaedic examinations, and tying surgical knots, while also having the opportunity to observe surgery. The experience offered a bridge from school to the real clinical environment. Beyond the hospital, I learned about the intangibles of a career in medicine. Since I lived with the Gunther family for 5 weeks, I became part of their family. Dr. Gunther’s 14-year-old sons have become my adopted younger brothers. His wife, Dana, taught me about business and cooking. I learned how surgeons balance the demands of work stress and call coverage with their outside interests and family obligations. These insights are not taught in medical school. The more time I spent living with Dr. Gunther, the more I realized that my desire to be an orthopaedic surgeon was attainable. Throughout my life, I have been fortunate to be involved with incredible mentoring and leadership opportunities. In high school, I was selected as a Jackie Robinson Scholar and was a Ron Brown Scholar Program Captain. In college, I was the director of the Jones-Zimmermann Academic Mentoring Program. Now, as a medical student, I am student body president, an Nth Dimensions Scholar, and chapter president of the Student National Medical Association (an organization dedicated to diversifying the field of medicine). Each of these opportunities has allowed me to reevaluate the term “mentor.” While mentors are great, advocates and sponsors are even better. “Advocates” are those who know you through firsthand experience and can highly recommend you to others. “Sponsors” invest their personal capital in your future career, often at their own expense. They have the ability to place you on the next rung of your ladder through connections and opportunities. Unfortunately, you cannot generally ask someone to sponsor you. Looking back on my summer orthopaedic experience, I realize that Dr. Gunther was a mentor, an advocate, and a sponsor. He helped me climb to the next rung of my journey in medicine. Individuals who act as sponsors, especially in the field of medicine, are few and far between. However, these physicians can play a pivotal role in efforts to diversify the field of orthopaedics. While orthopaedic pipeline programs like Nth Dimensions, the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society, and the J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society have been successful in helping the transition to a more diverse workforce, orthopaedic departments and orthopaedic leaders like Dr. Gunther can also change lives by mentoring and sponsoring the next generation of underrepresented students in medicine. It was an experience that I will never forget.