Hsu M, Spurr H, Cooper AP, Schaeffer EK. Journal of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America. 2025;10:100139. DOI: 10.1016/j.jposna.2024.100139
Abstract
Background:
Orthopaedic surgery is the least diverse surgical specialty. The BC Children’s Hospital Department of Orthopaedics created Women in ORTHopaedics (WORTH), a curriculum for high school students that offers early exposure and mentorship. It was inspired by the Perry Initiative.
Methods:
Participants completed a survey before each workshop and a matching survey afterward. The surveys covered their impressions of orthopaedics, their interest in an orthopaedic career, and their awareness of career pathways. Two workshops were held. The first, on June 10, 2023, was a hands-on day with 128 attendees. The second, on October 28, 2023, was a career-pathways session with 164 attendees, including 8 virtual.
Results:
Before the workshops, participants described orthopaedics as new to them and said they wanted to learn more. Afterward, they said it covered a much broader range than they expected. Interest in an orthopaedic career rose from 55% to 66% at the first workshop and from 56% to 64% at the second. Every attendee said they would come to future WORTH events.
Conclusions:
WORTH appears to help guide young women toward paths beyond high school. It also showed them careers beyond surgery, such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing, research and biomedical engineering. The authors note limits: post-survey response fell (44% and 62%), respondents may be biased toward interest, follow-up was short-term, and there was no statistical analysis.
