High School Seniors Get Hands-On Exposure to Orthopaedics
| Dec. 16, 2015 | “It’s fun,” said one of 33 high school senior girls filling the UAMS lab as she used an electric drill to put a hole in a simulated bone.
Fun was the much-repeated and much-hoped for result of the daylong workshop, part of the Perry Outreach Program hosted Dec. 5 by UAMS. Organized by the national Perry Initiative, the program hopes to inspire young women to pursue careers in orthopaedic surgery and engineering.
Ruth Thomas, M.D. (second from left), professor of orthopaedic surgery and director of the UAMS Center for Foot and Ankle Surgery and Theresa Wyrick, M.D. (second from right), an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery, demonstrate suturing techniques.
Women constitute only 12 percent of the academic faculty in orthopaedics (research and clinical) and 7 percent of practicing orthopaedists, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedics Surgeons. Only 11 percent of faculty at engineering schools are women.
During the day’s two lab sessions, the girls practiced how to fix a broken bone, stitch up a wound, insert a rod in the spine and repair other bone or ligament injuries. The participants also talked to women orthopaedic surgeons from UAMS, the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System and in private practice.
“Many of these girls have never picked up a drill or touched a saw and have definitely never sutured together a wound,” said Ruth Thomas, M.D., professor of orthopaedic surgery and director of the UAMS Center for Foot and Ankle Surgery. “We want to catch them early so that when they get to college, they will realize they are not limited, that careers in medicine and engineering are wide open to them and that those professions are in need of women and are fun.”
Thomas noted it was the fifth year for UAMS to host the Perry Initiative event. While it may be too early to gauge if any participants are on the road to becoming orthopaedic surgeons, Thomas is optimistic.
A companion program for first- and second-year medical students is being held every other year. There is already a spike in the number of female medical students applying for an orthpaedics residency, something Thomas attributes to the program.
Thirty-three high school girls participated in the Perry Initiative outreach workshop on Dec. 5 at UAMS, featuring hands-on activities to encourage careers in orthopaedic surgery.
“I hope they see how much fun this work can be and that girls can be surgeons too,” said Theresa Wyrick, M.D., an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery. “I never had any opportunity like this when I was in high school so I’m glad these students are able to have this chance.”
Jaclyn VanderSchilden, a fourth-year UAMS medical student, also worked with the students in the lab. She’s working toward a career in orthopaedics and said she hoped the day’s experience might have the same impact on some of the high school participants.
“It’s fun to do something like this and see the possibilities,” she said. “Some may think that orthopaedics is a men’s profession since you sometimes work with power tools — hopefully this lets these girls know it’s also a choice open to them.”
VanderSchilden was joined by UAMS graduate and surgeon Kate McCarthy, M.D., for a lunch session. McCarthy told participants about work-life balance as a young mother and a busy spine surgeon while VanderSchilden talked about on “getting into and surviving medical school.” A panel discussion with all the volunteers wrapped up the day.