Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Jun 18, 2021; 12(6): 412-422
Published online Jun 18, 2021. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v12.i6.412
Trends in leadership at orthopaedic surgery sports medicine fellowships
Nicholas C Schiller, Andrew J Sama, Amanda F Spielman, Chester J Donnally III, Benjamin I Schachner, Dhanur M Damodar, Christopher C Dodson, Michael G Ciccotti
Nicholas C Schiller, Andrew J Sama, Amanda F Spielman, Benjamin I Schachner, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, United States
Chester J Donnally III, Christopher C Dodson, Michael G Ciccotti, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, United States
Dhanur M Damodar, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Miami Hospital, Miami, FL 33316, United States
Author contributions: Schiller NC designed and performed the research and wrote the manuscript; Sama AJ assisted in the design of the study and performed the research and assisted in writing the manuscript; Spielman AF assisted in the design of the study and performed the statistical analysis and assisted in writing the manuscript; Schachner BI performed the research and assisted with the writing of the manuscript; Donnally III CJ, Damodar DM, Dodson CC, and Ciccotti MG assisted with the design of the study and writing the manuscript and supervised the study.
Institutional review board statement: This study was not required to undergo review by an institutional review board.
Informed consent statement: The informed consent was waived.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors, their immediate family, and any research foundation with which they are affiliated did not receive any financial payments or other benefits from any commercial entity related to the subject of this article. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. There are no relevant disclosures, copyrighted materials or signed patient consent forms associated with this study.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Nicholas C Schiller, BSc, MS, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, 1600 NW 10th Ave #1140, Miami, FL 33136, United States. n.schiller1@umiami.edu
Received: February 19, 2021
Peer-review started: February 19, 2021
First decision: May 3, 2021
Revised: May 5, 2021
Accepted: June 4, 2021
Article in press: June 4, 2021
Published online: June 18, 2021
Processing time: 111 Days and 21.3 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Fellowship directors (FDs) in sports medicine influence the future of trainees in the field of orthopaedics. Understanding the characteristics these leaders share must be brought into focus. For all current sports medicine FDs, our group analyzed their demographic background, institutional training, and academic experience.

AIM

To serve as a framework for those aspiring to achieve this position in orthopaedics and also identify opportunities to improve the position.

METHODS

Fellowship programs were identified using both the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and the Arthroscopy Association of North America Sports Medicine Fellowship Directories. The demographic and educational background data for each FD was gathered via author review of current curriculum vitae (CVs). Any information that was unavailable on CV review was gathered from institutional biographies, Scopus Web of Science, and emailed questionnaires. To ensure the collection of as many data points as possible, fellowship program coordinators, orthopaedic department offices and FDs were directly contacted via phone if there was no response via email. Demographic information of interest included: Age, gender, ethnicity, residency/fellowship training, residency/fellowship graduation year, year hired by current institution, time since training completion until FD appointment, length in FD role, status as a team physician and H-index.

RESULTS

Information was gathered for 82 FDs. Of these, 97.5% (n = 80) of the leadership were male; 84.15% (n = 69) were Caucasian, 7.32% (n = 6) were Asian-American, 2.44% (n = 2) were Hispanic and 2.44% (n = 2) were African American, and 3.66% (n = 3) were of another race or ethnicity. The mean age of current FDs was 56 years old (± 9.00 years), and the mean Scopus H-index was 23.49 (± 16.57). The mean calendar years for completion of residency and fellowship training were 1996 (± 15 years) and 1997 (± 9.51 years), respectively. The time since fellowship training completion until FD appointment was 9.77 years. 17.07% (n = 14) of FDs currently work at the same institution where they completed residency training; 21.95% (n = 18) of FDs work at the same institution where they completed fellowship training; and 6.10% (n = 5) work at the same institution where they completed both residency and fellowship training. Additionally, 69.5% (n = 57) are also team physicians at the professional and/or collegiate level. Of those that were found to currently serve as team physicians, 56.14% (n = 32) of them worked with professional sports teams, 29.82% (n = 17) with collegiate sports teams, and 14.04% (n = 8) with both professional and collegiate sports teams. Seven residency programs produced the greatest number of future FDs, included programs produced at least three future FDs. Seven fellowship programs produced the greatest number of future FDs, included programs produced at least four future FDs. Eight FDs (9.75%) completed two fellowships and three FDs (3.66%) finished three fellowships. Three FDs (3.66%) did not graduate from any fellowship training program. The Scopus H-indices for FDs are displayed as ranges that include 1 to 15 (31.71%, n = 26), 15 to 30 (34.15%, n = 28), 30 to 45 (20.73%, n = 17), 45 to 60 (6.10%, n = 5) and 60 to 80 (3.66%, n = 3). Specifically, the most impactful FD in research currently has a Scopus H-index value of 79. By comparison, the tenth most impactful FD in research had a Scopus H-index value of 43 (accessed December 1, 2019).

CONCLUSION

This study provides an overview of current sports medicine FDs within the United States and functions as a guide to direct initiatives to achieve diversity equality.

Keywords: Sports medicine fellowship; Medical education; Orthopaedic surgery; Orthopaedic fellowship; Orthopaedic leadership

Core Tip: This retrospective study provides an overview of current fellowship directors (FDs) within sports medicine in the United States. Currently, orthopaedics has lower percentages of females and minorities in leadership roles than many other specialties. Gender and racial diversity of these specialties should be a continued focus for improvement. Overall, the trends identified in this study serve as objective data on current FDs within sports medicine. These trends could function as a guide for individuals who strive to become academic leaders in sports medicine orthopaedics as well as direct initiatives to achieve diversity equality.