Everyone in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, from trainees to faculty and staff. Our diversity efforts are overseen by the department's director of diversity and inclusion, Julius Oni, M.D., with strong support from department and institutional leadership. We continue to expand what it means to be a diverse and inclusive organization, and always explore new ways to put these values into action.
What Diversity Means to Us
We believe that we can best promote excellence by creating a climate of diversity, inclusion and respect. This is critical to reaching our goals in research, teaching, health care and other areas within our department and Johns Hopkins as a whole.
Shared Values
We recognize and support the values of diversity and inclusion in achieving and sustaining excellence in academics, research and patient care.
Diverse Teams and Views
We create and foster inclusion by recruiting and retaining diverse groups of students, residents, faculty and staff.
Diversity is a Shared Responsibility
We acknowledge that the responsibility for excellence, diversity and inclusion lies with all of us in the department.
How We Practice Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity Scholarship
One-month clinical clerkship for fourth-year medical students who are women or members of underrepresented communities and are interested in pursing a career in orthopaedic surgery.
Community and International Outreach
Our department is engaged with Baltimore communities to expose young students to orthopaedics as a profession. We also participate in international humanitarian work.
Health Disparities Research
Racial disparities have shown to influence whether people receive timely care, type of care they get and procedure outcomes. We investigate these topics to shed the light on racial disparities in orthopaedics.
Ongoing Education
We aim to keep the topics of diversity and inclusion top of mind by including them in our grand rounds and other department-wide events and lectures.
Outreach and Philanthropy Efforts
Faculty, Residents and Alumni in National Diversity Leadership
Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society
The society aims to promote professional development of and for women in orthopaedics throughout all stages of their careers.
Members from Johns Hopkins:
- Dawn LaPorte, M.D., faculty | Chair, Diversity and Inclusion | Former President
- James Ficke, M.D., faculty | Member
- Amiethab Aiyer, M.D., faculty | Member
- Yesha Parekh, M.D., resident | Committee Member
J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society
This society aims to increase diversity within the orthopaedic profession and promote the highest quality musculoskeletal care for all people.
Members from Johns Hopkins:
- Julius Oni, M.D., faculty | Prior Mentorship Chair and Current Board Member
- Aaron Brandt, M.D., faculty | Member
- Dawn LaPorte, M.D., faculty | Member
- Addisu Mesfin, M.D., alumnus | Research Chair
- Jaysson Brooks, M.D., alumnus | Membership Chair
Pride Ortho
Pride Ortho is a community of proactive lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) individuals and their allies with a mission to provide mentorship, networking, and a sense of belonging for members of our orthopaedic community.
Members from Johns Hopkins:
- Dawn LaPorte, M.D., faculty | Member
Healthcare Disparities Research
- Social Determinants of Health and Race are Independent Predictors of Reduced Rotator Cuff Surgery Rates in the Medicare Population
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on racial disparities in patients undergoing total shoulder arthroplasty in the United States
- Do Disparities in Wait Times to Operative Fixation for Pathologic Fractures of the Long Bones and 30-day Complications Exist Between Black and White Patients? A Study Using the NSQIP Database
- Racial Disparities in the Use of Surgical Procedures in the US
- Worsening racial disparities in patients undergoing anatomic and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty in the United States
- Racial Disparities are Present in the Timing of Radiographic Assessment and Surgical Treatment of Hip Fractures
- An Introduction to the Orthopaedic Diversity Leadership Consortium: Advancement of Our Orthopaedic Leaders of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Through Networking, Strategy, and Innovation.
- Effect of Faculty Diversity on Minority Student Populations Matching into Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Programs.
- Racial, Socioeconomic, and Payer Status Disparities in Utilization of Total Ankle Arthroplasty Compared to Ankle Arthrodesis
- Racial Disparity in Time to Surgery and Complications for Hip Fracture Patients
- Age and Racial Disparities in Telemedicine Utilization in an Academic Orthopedic Surgery Department
- Assessment of Use of ICD-9 and ICD-10 Codes for Social Determinants of Health in the US, 2011-2021
- Are There Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Management and Outcomes of Surgically Treated Distal Radius Fractures?
- Does Time to Imaging and Surgery for Distal Radius Fractures Vary based on Geographic Socioeconomic Disadvantage?
- Residency Match Rates in Orthopaedic Surgery Based on Sex, Under-Represented in Medicine Status, and Degree Type.
- Racial Disparities in Short-Stay and Outpatient Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty: 13-year Trend in Utilization Rates and Perioperative Morbidity Using a National Database.
- Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Risk and Reason for Revision in Total Joint Arthroplasty.
- Trends in racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in Orthopaedic Surgery Adult Reconstruction Fellowships from 2007 to 2021.
Grand Rounds Speakers and Topics in Diversity
Past Grand Rounds
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Jaysson Brooks, M.D., is a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon at the UT Southwestern Medical Center. He completed his orthopaedic surgery training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he fell in love with the field of pediatric orthopaedic surgery. Dr. Brooks is very involved in research related to pediatric spine and hip disorders and is the author of multiple papers and book chapters. He also is heavily involved in producing research related to orthopaedic education and diversity within orthopaedic surgery.
Recent publications:
- The Majority of Black Orthopaedic Surgeons Report Experiencing Racial Microaggressions During Their Residency Training
- An Organizational Approach to Addressing Racism in Orthopaedic Surgery: AOA Critical Issues Symposium
- Disparities in Pediatric Scoliosis: The Impact of Race and Insurance Type on Access to Nonoperative Treatment for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
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Kim Templeton, M.D. is a professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City and department Vice-Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She was the first McCann Professor of Women in Medicine and Science in the United States. Dr. Templeton’s publications focus on issues faced by women physicians and the inclusion of sex and gender constructs in medicine and health professionals’ education.
Recent publications:
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Scott Porter, M.D., is a professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University of South Carolina School Of Medicine, Greenville; an adjunct assistant professor in the department of bioengineering at Clemson University and a consulting physician for Shriners Hospitals for Children-Greenville. Dr. Porter is also the former vice president of equity and inclusion at Prisma Health-Upstate.
Recent publications:
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Dr. Jennifer Weiss and Dr. Nancy Yen Shipley discuss the Speakup Ortho movement, personal experiences with workplace discrimination and harassment, and their hopes for what this movement will do for women in orthopaedics.
Podcast: Speakup Ortho
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Dr. William "Allie" Ross, a foot and ankle reconstructive surgeon and Senior Director of Clinical Education for Nth Dimensions presented on the "Allyship Blueprint" in orthopaedics.
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Augustus A. White, III, M.D., Ph.D. was the Orthopaedic Surgeon-in-Chief at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, MA, for 13 years. Today, he is the Ellen and Melvin Gordon Distinguished Professor of Medical Education, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School (HMS), former Professor of the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and former Advisory Dean of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Society at HMS. He currently serves as the Director of the Culturally Competent Care Education Program at HMS.
Recent publications:
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Claudia L. Thomas is the first female African-American orthopedic surgeon in the United States. She attended Medical School at Johns Hopkins University. She was the first African-American and woman to be admitted to the Yale Medical Program in orthopedics. She strives to increase the number of minority students in medical school and to help decrease racial bias in the healthcare industry.
Recent publications:
Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Johns Hopkins Medicine embraces diversity and inclusion, from higher leadership to our faculty, trainees and staff. These values are celebrated and put in action in many ways across our institution.
Johns Hopkins Medicine Equity Statement
Connecting the Community: Shepherd's Clinic
Black Doctors Matter at Johns Hopkins
