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Dr Jennifer Green is determined to keep pushing for equality in healthcare after her passion for increasing diversity in orthopaedic surgery was recognised with a prestigious award.
The hand and wrist surgeon, who practises at Canberra Private Hospital, was honoured by the Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA) with its Diversity Award for 2024.
"Orthopaedic surgery is one of Australia's least diverse medical specialities," she said.
"And that's not just gender – it's also race, ethnicity, and LGBTQI+ representation."
Dr Green was responsible for driving the inaugural AOA Diversity Strategy (2018-2020) as the Chair of the AOA Orthopaedic Women's Link (OWL) Committee.
She is also the founder of the International Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance (IODA), a United States-based not-for-profit organisation with almost 2,000 members.
"Historically, you had to be physically big and strong to perform orthopaedic surgery," said Dr Green, who in 2022 was the first recipient of the Australian Medical Association'sDiversity in Medicine Award.
"Now with all the power tools at our disposal, that's not necessary."
Dr Green said there was a direct correlation between lack of representation in medicine and poorer clinical outcomes.
"Women are three to 22 percent less likely to be offered a knee replacement than men," she said.
"That's probably the result of the unconscious bias of a profession that is dominated by male surgeons of homogenous ethnicity around the globe.
"In the United States, if you have major lower-limb trauma and are African American, you are more likely to have that limb amputated than if you are white.
"And if you are a child from a non-English speaking background, or English is your second language, your treatment for a sports injury is more likely to be delayed."
Dr Green said the direction of the current US administration was causing concern among her colleagues.
"A lot of my colleagues in the US right now are very much struggling; they're very stressed about what may happen, because there are a lot of programs that support inclusivity and diversity," she said.
"Problems are solved at the foot of leadership – they have the power to minimise bias, communicate the messaging, and promote equity.
"It's about having flexible policies, not just for women but everyone – so that individuals can pursue their passion, complete a PhD, care for a sick relative, or be there for family."
Dr Green actively promotes diversity, equity and inclusion through international and local scientific meeting presentations, publication of collaborative articles, contributions to educational webinars and podcasts, and by assisting organisations in the developmentof diversity strategies.
"Women in Estonia, in Spain, and in Scandinavian countries make up 25-30 percent of practising orthopaedic surgeons due to social policies that support gender equity in the workforce," she said.
"Here in Australia only six percent of orthopaedic surgeons are women; in the US it's about seven percent, and in the UK and Malaysia it's 10 percent.
"It's about having role models for young female medical students to come to the AOA OWL workshops and see what a career in orthopaedics can look like."
Dr Jennifer Green practises at Canberra Private Hospital, which is part of the Nexus group
Dr Green said it had been "powerful" for young women to see how supportive their male colleagues were at these events.
"It takes a long time to train a surgeon – seven years at university, and a minimum of 10 more years to qualify as an orthopaedic surgeon. So, they're qualifying in their mid-to-late 30s, which has implications particularly for women who are starting families," she said.
"AOA polices include making sure we have women as guest speakers, as moderators, and that we see diverse academics and researchers, because it's research that often drives leadership in our field."
Dr Green's immediate plans for furthering diversity include launching the IODA's online global mentorship program.
"AOA, IODA and the many organisations around the world supporting diversity in orthopaedics certainly have made a lot of progress, but there is still a long way to go, and there is still not representative diversity of culture and ethnicity in our leadership," she said.
"There's more to do engaging with ethnic minorities and the LGBTQI+ community.
"Sometimes we still get pushback regarding gender equity initiatives – there's still an incorrect assumption among some of our colleagues that women get 'preferential treatment' in the selection of orthopaedic trainees due to diversity policies.
"So, we are continuing to work on those issues.
"To drive diversity, visible role models, minimising unconscious bias in selection and promotion, flexibility in the workplace and sponsorship and mentorship are key.
"Ultimately, diversity in medicine is about better healthcare outcomes for the diverse community that we serve."
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