Women in Orthopaedics

For Young Learners

What the Work Involves

Three explanations come up in the research, and none of them is about ability.

Exposure. Pupils and students see orthopaedics less often than they see general medicine, and what they do see is often filtered through the idea that it requires unusual physical strength. Instruments and positioning do the work, not the surgeon's arms.

Role models. People apply for jobs they can picture themselves doing. Where a specialty has few women in senior posts, fewer women apply, and the pattern repeats itself.

Working patterns. Surgical training involves on call commitments and moving between hospitals. Those pressures fall unevenly, and the specialty has been slower than others to adapt.

The People Who Do It

Medicine as a whole admits more women than men to medical school. Orthopaedic surgery does not reflect that. Of all the surgical specialties it has one of the smallest proportions of women, among both trainees and consultants.

The current figures are published each year by the General Medical Council and by the British Orthopaedic Association. They are moving, so read them there rather than taking a number from a page like this one.

There are women consultant knee surgeons in the United Kingdom, women leading orthopaedic research groups, and women presidents of surgical organisations. The specialty is not closed.

It is, however, a specialty where a female trainee may be the only woman in a theatre team, and that is a different working experience from being one of several.

What It Takes

Nothing about the work requires a particular build or sex. The strength an operation needs comes from positioning, instruments and assistance.

What it needs is the same as for any surgeon. Stamina, practical skill learned by repetition, and interest in the problem.

Where to Find Out More

The Royal College of Surgeons runs Women in Surgery, a network with resources aimed at school and university students.

The British Orthopaedic Association publishes on diversity in the specialty and runs events for students considering it.

A school careers adviser can look for local outreach schemes, several of which are run specifically for students who do not see themselves represented in a specialty.