The OTA High School Scholars Program (HSSP) launched in 2022 as way to provide early exposure to orthopaedic surgery and related careers. Due to the success of the initial program and the OTA’s value of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the HSSP has now become an annual event. This year’s guest school will be Kahnawà:ke Survival School. The English word for Kahnawà:ke is Mohawk.
OTA recognizes that despite the growing diversity of the US population, orthopaedic surgery has remained one of the least diverse surgical subspecialties in medicine. The slow increase in underrepresented minority (URM) senior faculty reflects the lack of underrepresented orthopaedic residents. Many barriers to URM students seeking careers in orthopaedic surgery include lack of exposure, in-home obstacles, high school peer pressure, lack of URM role models, and a negative stereotyping of URM students at all education levels. The OTA HSSP provides early exposure with a goal of increasing diversity in roles related to orthopaedic surgery.
This course is a half day program that includes an ice breaker, career panel, and hands-on experience where students experience casting, x-ray interpretation, and orthopaedic hardware placement. Faculty include OTA members and career panel members from industry and orthopaedic related careers like x-ray techs, PAs, and scrub techs.
