Diversity & Inclusion Plan
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine
Overview of the Department
Mission Statement: The University of Chicago Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine provides innovative surgical care and advanced training for tomorrow’s surgical leaders.
We are committed to not only meeting but exceeding the patient experience. The department has expertise in all specialties in orthopaedic surgery, including sports, hand and upper extremity, adult reconstruction, spine, pediatrics, oncology, foot and ankle, trauma, and general orthopaedics. We have 34 full time faculty, with 23 surgical faculty; as well as 11 advanced-practice providers.
Diversity is a key focus, given the well-publicized dearth of representation of women and under-represented minorities in orthopaedic surgery. Our program measures well compared to national averages in orthopaedics.In the orthopaedic residency, with 25 residents total, there are 7 women (28%), with 2 Black (8%), 2 Hispanic (8%) and two Asian (8%) residents. Our faculty comprises 32 educators, with one-third (11) being female, and a similar proportion of women are surgical teaching faculty (8/23, 35%). Our surgical faculty also includes 2 persons of color (2/23, 9%). In addition, one faculty member and two residents identify as LGBTQ (2/25 residents, 8%). In leadership, our interim chair is female, and of the 5 vice chairs, two are women. National numbers from 2022 indicate that 18.3% of orthopaedic residents are female, with 7% of residents identifying as Black, 10.1% Hispanic, 18.3% Asian, and 5% as multiple race or other. On the attending side in academic orthopaedic surgery, 3% (4 of 153) of chairs, 8% (5 of 61) of vice chairs, 11% (18 of 161) of program directors, 27% (20 of 75) of assistant program directors, and 9% (45 of 514) of division chiefs were women (2022).
Infrastructure to Support Diversity & Inclusion
Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
We are committed to representation of diverse backgrounds and cultures, and culturally sensitive care for our patients. In the area of trainee education, we are committed a policy of openness, inclusion and diversity which includes resident and fellow recruitment. We are demonstrating our diversity with media interaction, news articles, podcasts and journal entries, which promote our inclusive and representative group. We will continue to work to maintain and grow inclusiveness, representation, and diversity, as well as reaching out to the community for ways to improve our service.
We recognize the problems of social injustice and the evolving state of our nation and its people. We will continue to be at the forefront of inclusiveness, representation, equality and justice. Recognizing the value and strength inherent in our diverse population is the first of many steps to meet the goal of optimal health and community wellness.
The Simon Scholar
Michael Simon, MD, emeritus professor and division chief of orthopaedic surgery, established the Simon Scholar Award in 2021. This provides salary support to a junior faculty member who is then provided protected time to attend a leadership course in diversity and inclusion, serve on a BSD committee in this area, organize departmental and Pritzker medical school efforts in diversity and inclusion, and help further diversity in the field of orthopaedic surgery. Megan Conti Mica, MD was named the inaugural Simon Scholar in 2021. Her accomplishments include publications in diversity in orthopaedic surgery, national service in this arena, and organization of panels at Pritzker as well as support of multiple diversity initiatives in the department. Mary Kate Erdman, MD, was named as the second Simon Scholar in the fall of 2023.
Diversity & Inclusion Liaisons
Our department has designated two D&I liaisons: Clarabelle DeVries, MD and Mary Kate Erdman, MD. Their roles include a mission to:
- Increase awareness of diversity & inclusion
- Share opportunities for learning/training with the department
- Participate as an active member of the BSD Faculty Diversity committee
- Serve on the Department Diversity Committee
- Be a resource for search committees for faculty and staff
Departmental Committees
Department Diversity Committee
Clarabelle Devries, MD, chairs the Diversity Committee, which includes representation from faculty, staff, advanced practice providers (APPs), and residents. Activities include community outreach with park cleanup in Jefferson Park, adoption of a family over the holiday season, and the OrthoReach initiative which presents workshops and sawbones labs to high school students interested in Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics (STEM) careers. (see more below)
The Visibility of Diversity & Inclusion
We conducted a review of our website and added a specific page on our D&I. This includes our mission statement as well as our work with outreach through the OrthoReach program and OrthoSIG panels.
OrthoReach
OrthoReach is a new outreach and pipeline program. It is led by residents and designed to engage UiM high school students interested in learning more about Orthopaedic Surgery. We have partnered with the I AmAble Foundation for virtual and in-person events that include sessions on reading x-rays, simulated patient scenarios, casting and splinting, and surgical skills. Faculty and residents have participated in events 3-4 times per year.
OrthoSIG (Student Interest Group) Panels
The department collaborates with the Pritzker School of Medicine students to run panels for students interested in learning more about orthopaedic surgery. These include panels about women in orthopaedics, what it means to be an orthopaedic residents, and underrepresented minorities in orthopaedics.
Diversity-Focused Grand Rounds
Our grand rounds program includes multiple external speakers who are invited in person or via Zoom. For the last two years, we have added two focused topics from the menu presented by the BSD Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as well as two special presentations. These were included a panel discussion on “Being LGBTQ in Orthopaedic Surgery with Chloe Scott, MD, FRCS from Edinburgh, Scotland, UK; David Alcoulombre, MD, FRCSC, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and Steven Orr, MD, from New York. The second talk was a perspectives panel presented by Kenneth Wilson, MD, FACS and Steven Estime, MD, on ‘Bias and Racism in Surgery’.
Department/Alumni Newsletters
For the past two years, in celebration of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, we produced newsletters which included interviews of previous orthopaedic residents as well as information about current department diversity initiatives. These were disseminated broadly to inform our alumni and supporters about our focus on DEI in orthopaedic surgery.
People
Hire & Admit Inclusively to Incentivize Diversity
1. Faculty Diversity
Our department has always valued diversity among faculty, both in hiring and retention strategies. Our goal has always been to search and retain physicians with diverse cultural backgrounds, education, race, experiences etc. To maintain and increase diversity among faculty, we aim to ensure that our faculty searches build a diverse applicant pool that includes members of underrepresented groups. In particular, according to national averages our department lacks representation from African American and Latinx communities. We will continue to work to ensure the applicant pool is diverse by encouraging faculty members to attend prominent orthopaedic and/or surgical association meetings with the aim of meeting underrepresented prospective candidates. We will also review and improve our search committee processes by more intentionally contemplating implicit bias. On each search committee, we have a diversity liaison tasked with helping the committee put equitable practices into place. This liaison will assist with more strategic marketing efforts to advertise our faculty position within minority-facing organizations and networks.
2. Residency and Fellow Diversity
Our education committee is responsible for ensuring diversity of residency and fellowship programs, and is comprised of program directors and associate directors. We have set a goal to have a minimum of 20% of the applicants invited for interview composed of women and underrepresented minorities, and have consistently achieved this for the last 5 years and want to continue to meet this metric.
To increase a diverse candidate pool, we will work with the Pritzker minority clerkship program to increase the number of underrepresented trainees. We will be sending 1 or 2 residents and a minimum of one faculty member to the SNMA (Student National Medical Association) and LSMA (Latinx Student Medical Association) residency fairs to increase visibility of University of Chicago Orthopaedics and to promote a diverse application pool.
3. Staff Diversity
Diversity of Staff is defined as intentionally hiring a workforce that includes individuals from varying gender, religion, race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation and education. Our goal will be to increase the diversity in our department staff by 10% a year to at a minimum, match the diversity of the Hyde Park neighborhood surrounding the University of Chicago: 27% Black, 48% white, 9% Hispanic, and 12% Asian. Our ultimate goal will be to reach a diversity level of 50% within department staff.
The responsibility for achieving this goal will include both the HR team and the department hiring managers. The goals will be included in appropriate party’s performance goals. Since a diverse candidate slate is required for success, a multi-faceted approach should be utilized to increase the of success of achieving the goal:
• All candidate slates must include at least 25% diversity candidates.
• Specialized diversity recruiters should be identified.
• The interview process should be reviewed to insure it does not inadvertently screen out viable diversity candidates.
• Target rich environments (selected communities, selected universities, selected affiliations) should be identified and relationships/contacts established to provide talent pipelines.
• Proactive recruitment should take place so that adequate time and screening can identify strong diversity candidates (so staff shortages or patient needs do not force following previous recruitment habits)
• We must identify any barriers for a candidate's employment
• Identify underrepresented populations
• Initiatives to increase our diverse workforce should be re-evaluated yearly by hiring managers and Human Resources.
• To increase diversity among staff, hiring managers will attend grand rounds discussing key diversity and inclusion topics, to learn to identify implicit bias and take measures to avoid it. Open positions will be posted on different web-based platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, APP associations etc. to increase job visibility. Primary hiring manager will share candidate resumes with different hiring managers within the department to reach a consensus factoring in diversity, skills, educational qualification, and experiences before taking interview and offer decisions.
Mentor & Coach Individuals to Support Retention
Our department has mentoring mechanisms in place for faculty and trainees, as follows:
- All residents are assigned a faculty mentor with expectations of at least quarterly meetings, with a report to filled out by the mentor after each meeting.
- All fellows meet quarterly with their respective fellowship director for mentoring.
- Our junior faculty receive mentoring and coaching from our Vice Chair of Faculty Development and Diversity on a regular basis. 1:1 meetings are set-up every quarter to discuss growth opportunities. Also, specialty-based mentoring is provided to junior faculty joining the department by senior faculty members.
- We appointed a Lead APP as an administrator for all APPs, and expectations include onboarding new APPs into the practice efficiently and mentoring them for successful integration and growth.
- Administrative staff skills are assessed by their supervisors on a regular basis and training opportunities are shared to enhance their skill sets that will benefit the department and themselves. Internal staff are always preferred for promotions. New challenging projects are given to staff who show willingness to learn and grow.
Promote Equitable Labor practices.
Internal staff are often preferred for promotions. Faculty who are engaged and want to learn more about different areas of department operations and strategy are encouraged to do so. Faculty input is valued when making strategic growth decisions within a specialty.
Staff base salaries are evaluated on an annual basis as part of the performance review process.
Faculty salaries are evaluated at the time of reappointment reappointment and bonuses are evaluated on an annual basis to be disseminated biannually. The finance committee and vice chair of finance work together to evaluate bonus structure for equity.
Build and Maintain Pathways for Promotion
The Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs, Rex Haydon, MD, PhD, works to counsel junior faculty on a regular basis regarding their promotion status and process. The Vice Chair for Faculty Development and Diversity, Jennifer Wolf, MD PhD also works with junior faculty on academic success and provides additional mentorship and support.
Departmental Climate
A. Build Inclusive Skills
In order to create a welcoming, diverse and inclusive climate within our department, it is imperative to train our faculty, staff, and trainees to increase their knowledge of all backgrounds and to build skills to reflect this. Our commitment to quarterly grand rounds, annual training on implicit bias prior to resident recruitment, and focus on D&I in faculty and resident meetings are all a part of this process.
B. Connect to Networks
We continue to engage and connect with diverse student medical organizations, including but not limited to the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) and the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA). We will attend the Student National Medical Association National Conference and Residency Fair, with the intent to recruit underrepresented in medicine students to retain and graduate a more diverse orthopedic surgical class. We will also work more closely with the local SNMA and LMSA chapters within our own institutions with the goal of exposing minority medical students to the field of Orthopedics earlier on in their medical training.
C. Create a Welcoming Climate
To continue to foster an inclusive environment within our department, we promote and encourage all faculty, staff, and residents to participate in our OrthoReach work with the IAmAble Foundation which occurs multiple times per year. We believe this camaraderie and connections that are built during these events will further our respect of each other as individuals and others’ cultures and backgrounds. We will also ensure that not only our Chair, but all of our leaders within our department have an open door policy as it pertains to issues surrounding diversity and inclusion. Our website has a dedicated page on DEI and our mission statement and work on this topic.
D. Practice Inclusive Teaching & Training
Our goal is to maintain a high level of Inclusive teaching and training amongst our trainees (residents and fellows) and educators (faculty). Our quarterly grand rounds brings both groups together with a focus on D&I.
IV. Community
While we strive to provide compassionate and comprehensive care to our patients in the clinical setting, the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation Medicine recognizes the importance of cultivating strong relationships with the people we serve through outreach and community service. Our department vows to actively engage in the community by partnering with local neighborhood and city organizations to promote ongoing collaboration and promote positive evolution in the surrounding communities, as well as fostering the growth and education of underrepresented minority inner city youth interested in medicine.
GOALS for 2024
- Achieve a minimum of 20% of candidates who are women or underrepresented minorities in each faculty search
- Continue to invite a minimum of 20% of residency candidates who are women or underrepresented minorities
- Achieve staff hiring goals to mirror community makeup
Updated January 2024
Jennifer Moriatis Wolf, MD PhD
Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine