Identifying Perceived Barriers to Pursuing Orthopaedic Surgery: Do Medical Student Sawbones events Make A Difference?

Orthopaedic surgery is the least gender diverse medical specialty. Little is known about the impact of sawbones workshops on medical student perceptions of orthopaedic surgery and whether there are sex differences in perceived barriers to pursuing orthopaedics. This study investigates the impact of Sawbones Events on student interest or perceived barriers to orthopaedics and identifies whether there are sex in student interest or types of perceived barriers to orthopaedics. Three stand-alone sawbones workshops were hosted in 2023-2025 at an accredited medical school, staffed by diverse orthopaedic surgeons. Pre-event, immediate post-event, and 1-week post-event surveys were administered to participants. Surveys gathered baseline demographics, interest level, and perceived barriers to pursuing orthopaedic surgery using 5-point Likert scales. Mann Whitney U tests assessed ordinal variables and Fischer’s Exact tests assessed categorical variables. Among all participants (n=91), there was a significant increase in familiarity with orthopaedic surgery post-event when compared to pre-event (Pre-Event Mean: 3.24, Post-Event Mean: 3.73, p=0.014) which was sustained 1 week post-event (Pre-Event Mean: 32.24, Post-Event Mean: 3.85, p=0.002). Ninety-one percent reported that the event had a positive or very positive impact on their interest in pursuing orthopaedic surgery. Baseline and post-event level of interest in orthopaedics was similar amongst both sexes (p>0.05). However, females were 3.51 times more likely post-event (OR: 3.51, CI: 1.45-8.47, p=0.005) and 4.89 times more likely 1-week post event to report family planning as a barrier when compared to males (OR: 4.89, CI: 1.40-17.05, p=0.016). Sawbones events can significantly increase familiarity with orthopaedics and have a positive impact on students’ decisions to pursue orthopaedics. While males and females have similar levels of interest in orthopaedic surgery at baseline, females were nearly 5 times more likely to report family planning as a perceived barrier. Despite similar levels of interest, sex differences in perceived barriers may attribute to why orthopaedic surgery has the least female representation amongst all medical specialties. This is the first known study to elucidate sex differences in perceived barriers to pursuing orthopaedics amongst medical students, providing a replicable model to identify institutional specific student perceived barriers which may inform targeted interventions to increase diversity in orthopaedics. II, Lesser quality prospective study