Thanks so much for being here. Hope you've had a great week here in Chicago. So I'm honored to have the opportunity to provide some introductory remarks for this unprecedented combined specialty day and speak about the importance of collaboration and allyship for diversity in orthopedics. Sorry, just trying to advance. Does the other one work? Oops. There we go, OK. It has been a pleasure working with Drs. Aniko and Rosenblum and Brian Waterman to prepare this program, which features 50% female faculty, covers cutting edge topics in sports medicine, and includes a panel related to moving the needle on diversity. We are proud to include faculty from RJOS, The Forum, and Black Women Orthopedic Surgeons. In order for us to know where we need to go with regards to gender diversity in our field, we first need to understand where we are. We know that currently over 50% of medical students are women, and about 15% of orthopedic surgery residents are women. Clearly, there's a gap between prospective candidates and actual trainees. This is from a great study published in JBJS in 2018, which noted that in 2005 to 2006, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, and thoracic surgery all had about 11% female trainees. Fast forward 10 years, and the numbers had increased significantly in neurosurgery and thoracic surgery, whereas orthopedics only saw an incremental increase. In this study, they also noted that 18% of full-time orthopedic faculty were women, 9% of professors were women, 16% of all medical specialty department chairs were women, and at the time of this study, there was only one female department chair. It's very exciting to note that currently there are seven female department chairs, and about 6.5% of academy members were women. In this study, they also found that women tended to hold lower academic ranks, that is, assistant and associate professor, whereas the higher leadership positions of professor and department chair tended to be occupied by our male counterparts. They also looked at the breakdown of female versus male membership in several of the specialty societies and found that at the top, of course, was RJOS with the highest percentage of female members, and at the opposite end of the spectrum was the Hip and Knee Society with less than 1% female members. From this study, they concluded that, yes, there's been an increase in female orthopedic surgeons, but it clearly lags behind other surgical specialties, and that there is absolutely a lack of female orthopedic surgeons in leadership positions at medical schools, which is critical, because medical students look up to female leaders, of course. It is really important for us to do everything that we can to increase exposure to orthopedics and female mentors. ANA is absolutely committed to improving all aspects of diversity in orthopedics and sports medicine. There have been numerous initiatives developed and catapulted forward over the past couple of years under the leadership of Doctors Brian Cole and Mark Gettleman. The Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, which was chaired by Dr. Julie Dodds and Don Buford, was created during Dr. Cole's presidency. This task force had several notable accomplishments, including the development of a diversity and inclusion mission statement, which you see here, and reads, ANA is committed to supporting a diverse and inclusive membership with programming and leadership that promotes an understanding and respect for all people. We believe that diversity contributes to and influences innovation and success, keeping ANA at the forefront of minimally invasive orthopedic surgery. The Diversity and Inclusion Task Force also created the Diversity Keynote Lecture, which will be included at the annual meeting. The first keynote was delivered by Dr. Rick Ryu at the combined AOSSM-ANA meeting in July 2021. His powerful and inspirational speech entitled The Handshake or the Fist was well-received by all in attendance. Another notable accomplishment by the task force was the creation of the Diversity Research Award, and the inaugural award will be given at the ANA 2022 meeting in May. We are also really looking forward to the Diversity Keynote Address that will be delivered in May by Dr. Eric Carson, entitled Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Matter in Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine and What I Have Learned. So RJOS is dedicated to improving diversity in orthopedics and helping to promote professional development of women throughout all stages of their careers. Other intentional efforts by RJOS to improve diversity include participation in numerous educational webinars focused on diversity, recognizing and combating bias, and mitigating unacceptable behaviors such as bullying and harassment. Additionally, RJOS has recently created a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force to focus on improving gender, racial, and ethnic diversity within the society. All of these societies, or excuse me, as orthopedic surgeons, we have recognized the need for diversity in our field in terms of providing excellent patient care and contributing to the progress of our field. All of these groups are overwhelmingly committed to improving diversity in orthopedics, and we've also seen commitment from the academy with the inclusion of a strategic goal related to evolving the culture and governance of the AOS board and volunteer structure, and we have seen this within the BOS as several specialty societies have created Diversity and Inclusion Task Forces and committees. So the time is now. By collaborating and serving as allies, we will be successful in improving diversity in our field. We need to be intentional with our efforts, and your presence here demonstrates your support for this initiative. So we hope that you enjoy this excellent program. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you.

collaboration

diversity

orthopedics

gender disparity

intentional efforts