CME OnDemand: 2022 AOFAS Annual Meeting-Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Surgery Leadership Trends: A Cross-Sectional Study of Fellowship Directors and Division Chiefs

Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Surgery Leadership Trends: A Cross-Sectional Study of Fellowship Directors and Division Chiefs

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Pdf Summary

This study aimed to analyze and compare the demographic and professional characteristics of current leaders in foot and ankle surgery. The study focused on Fellowship Directors, who mentor and teach trainees, and Division Chiefs, who manage providers and administrative tasks. The study found an urgent need to address the lack of diversity in the specialty's leadership. The researchers reviewed the AOFAS fellowship directory and sent surveys to Fellowship Directors and Division Chiefs. The analyzed variables included demographics, educational background, training programs, certifications, and research impact (measured by the H-index). The results showed that the majority of leaders were middle-aged white males with high research productivity. The H-index for Fellowship Directors had a positive correlation with years since graduation and director tenure. The H-index for Division Chiefs was significantly higher than that of Fellowship Directors. The study highlighted the lack of diversity in foot and ankle surgery leadership in terms of sex and race. Overall, the findings provide a baseline to measure changes in leadership diversity in the future.

Asset Subtitle

Aman Chopra, BA, Amanda N. Fletcher, MD, MS, Naji Madi, MD, Selene G. Parekh, MD, MBA

Keywords

demographic characteristics

professional characteristics

current leaders

foot and ankle surgery

Fellowship Directors

Division Chiefs

diversity in leadership

AOFAS fellowship directory

surveys

variables