Newswise — Julianne Muñoz, M.D. assistant prof of orthopaedics astatine the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, knows her aesculapian specialty suffers from sex inequality, and she wants to bash thing astir it.
“Orthopaedics is the astir female-underrepresented specialty successful medicine — adjacent much truthful than the male-dominated specialties of urology and neurosurgery,” Dr. Muñoz said.
Females marque up lone astir 6 to 7% of the rank of the world’s largest aesculapian relation of musculoskeletal specialists, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).
Part of the occupation is that myths astir however women aren’t chopped retired for orthopedics proceed to marque aesculapian students deliberation doubly — oregon worse, take different specialty, according to Dr. Muñoz.
“A batch of what we spot is pistillate med students volition instrumentality an involvement successful orthopaedics but often get dissuaded from continuing onto the specialty for wholly stereotypical reasons. People volition accidental things similar ‘Orthopaedics is simply a boys’ club,’ oregon ‘You request to beryllium large and beardown to bash orthopaedics,’” Dr. Munoz said. “The bittersweet happening is the immense bulk of the clip it is not orthopaedic surgeons who are telling young women they shouldn’t see the imagination to prosecute orthopedic surgery.”
In 2022, to assistance acceptable the grounds consecutive astir what it’s similar to beryllium a pistillate successful orthopedics, Dr. Muñoz launched a mentorship radical for pistillate aesculapian students, residents, fellows, and attendings, called the Female Orthopedists of Miami Mentorship Organization.
Program and Mentorship Have Expanded
The Miller School-based programme has rapidly grown and has been truthful promising that the AAOS earmarked $3,600 of backing for it done the association’s Inspiring Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) assistance program.
The mentors of today’s programme see not lone pistillate orthopaedic attendees from the Miller School but besides backstage signifier orthopedists passim Miami.
“Then determination are each our trainees — orthopedic fellows, residents, and immoderate med students successful the orthopedic involvement group. From determination it expanded to students from different schools. Now we besides person Florida International University and Nova students conscionable from connection of mouth,” Dr. Muñoz said.
Twenty to 25 mentees be the program’s six yearly in-person lectures delivered by pistillate orthopedic surgeons successful the group. Many of these lectures are fixed successful mentors’ homes oregon section restaurants. Topics code specified things arsenic navigating household beingness successful the specialty, extremity setting, intersexual harassment astatine work, self-care, and interpersonal relationships with enactment unit and successful the operating room.
Alina Syros, a third-year aesculapian pupil astatine the Miller School, didn’t recognize however male-dominated orthopaedics was until she shadowed surgeons successful the hospital.
“I wasn’t seeing galore pistillate orthopedic surgeons. I was shocked the archetypal clip joined this radical to spot however galore women were there,” said Syros, who is getting acceptable to use for an orthopaedics residency. “This radical truly has been a truly bully abstraction for maine to inquire questions that possibly I couldn’t inquire antheral orthopaedic surgeons — things similar however bash you bash household planning? Can you person kids during residency?”
Syros, who besides thought 1 had to beryllium ace beardown to signifier orthopaedic surgery, has since learned from “petite” women successful the specialty that it isn’t true.
Dr. Muñoz said the adjacent measurement successful the program’s maturation is to unfastened it to first-year aesculapian students.
“We privation to scope these women erstwhile they’re young, due to the fact that they commencement proceeding these falsehoods erstwhile they commencement their rotations and during their 2nd twelvemonth of aesculapian school,” she said. “It would beryllium bully to see each the first-year students, truthful they tin perceive what it’s similar successful the specialty straight from the pistillate orthopaedic surgeons.”
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