An Updated Demographic Profile of Orthopaedic Surgery Using a New ABOS Data Set

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic surgery workforce demographics
• Physician diversity and inclusion
• Medical specialty representation

Background:

• The orthopaedic surgery profession is historically and currently dominated by White males, making it the least diverse medical specialty.
• Initiatives to increase diversity within orthopaedic surgery are ongoing, necessitating an understanding of the current demographic landscape.
• The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) is the primary certification body for orthopaedic surgeons in the US.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the demographic profile of the orthopaedic surgery workforce.
• To identify trends in gender and race/ethnicity over time within the profession.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of diversity and inclusion programs in orthopaedic surgery.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of self-reported race/ethnicity and sex/gender data collected by the ABOS from 2017 onwards.
• Inclusion of 19,912 diplomates for sex/gender data and 19,876 for race/ethnicity data from a total of 21,025 practicing diplomates.
• Definition of Underrepresented Minority (URM) based on representation compared to US census data, including females and specific racial/ethnic groups.

Main Results:

• The orthopaedic surgery workforce comprises approximately 84.78% males and 8.43% females; 73.67% identify as White, and 16.35% as URM.
• Significant increases in the proportion of females (OR=4.72) and URMs (OR=2.31) were observed over time.
• Demographic variations exist across subspecialties, with pediatric orthopaedics having the highest percentage of females (30.4%) and Spine having the highest URM percentage (8.97%).

Conclusions:

• While orthopaedic surgery in 2023 remains predominantly White and male, there are encouraging trends toward increased gender and racial/ethnic diversity.
• Subspecialties within orthopaedics exhibit diverse demographic profiles, highlighting varied representation across different areas of practice.
• Continued monitoring and evaluation of diversity initiatives are crucial for advancing inclusivity in the orthopaedic surgery profession.