Women in Orthopaedics

David D. Teuscher, MD; Lisa K. Cannada, MD

Is orthopaedics making any progress in gender diversity? Despite the naysayers, orthopaedics has, in fact, made great strides in gender diversity—and has a promising future. In 2014, women made up half of undergraduate students, 44 percent of medical students, and 14 percent of orthopaedic residents. As Table 1 shows, the percentage of female residents in orthopaedics is slowly increasing—yet remains lower than in other surgical specialties. But figures can be deceiving.