Orthopedic diversity and fostering more leadership opportunities for women in the specialty has been a top priority for Robert McLain, MD.
Dr. McLain is president of the Western Orthopaedic Foundation, but he also has roots in the Midwest. He worked at Cleveland Clinic for 25 years and spent the last few years of his clinical career in Seattle after moving there in 2022.
Dr. McLain spoke with Becker's about the Western Orthopaedic Foundation and how it stands out among similar groups.
Note: This conversation was lightly edited for clarity.
Question: What are some of the unique challenges and concerns you're hearing from surgeons in the West, and how do those differ compared to some things that you may have faced when you were working in Ohio?
Dr. Robert McLain: I was fortunate enough to spend a year as the president of the Mid-America Orthopaedic Association and was elected to that back in 2017. That's an organization that was well supported by the big academic institutions. What it provided was an opportunity for surgeons in their region to address regional issues, and coming out to the West it's the same thing. It's not quite as well developed, but it's becoming a more well-established and broadly supported organization among the big academic institutions. We have 35 different orthopedic training programs in that 14-state area. Those are big training groups and a lot of educational opportunities and a lot of need for support.
We don't always get the same level of support from the big organizations that the East Coast programs do. So it's good for the Western states' groups to work together to build collegial organizations, and that's been a great boon to the training programs and to the young faculty and staff at those programs.
The Western programs out here have also been proactive and more forward thinking in terms of equity and women in orthopedics and balance in terms of orthopedic training. We've got organizations out here that are real leaders in those areas. We're seeing a ton of young women coming into orthopedics and the training programs. It's really addressing a problem that orthopedics has recognized for years, but just hasn't been able to fix. On the West Coast, we've got great programs that have women on staff, women in the residency programs, and we want to continue to do that in all areas of representation.
Q: Can you dive deeper into that? I'd love to hear your perspective on what you think the orthopedic industry is doing well and where things can improve in representation.
RM: We've got some folks out here that have been in the business for a while. Serena Hu, MD, at Stanford has been a leader in spine for years, and is a leader in our organization. We've also advanced women into chair positions in major teaching organizations. But I don't think as many women recognize what they can aspire to as they should. We're looking to change that by introducing more programs with the Ruth Jackson Society and with women in our own organizations to make that advancement the norm. It's developing organically and naturally, and that's going to be a great boon to our organizations.