The #SpeakUpOrtho movement exploded on social media as a vehicle for healthcare professionals who have faced bullying, harassment, and discrimination to share their stories. The high rates of abusive behaviors in the field can negatively impact medical students, residents during their training, as well as physicians in practice. We decided to make this short blog post because Nailed It Ortho supports the movement, and we want to bring greater attention to this cultural problem that impacts professionals across specialties.
What is #SpeakUpOrtho?
Although orthopaedics remains homogenous (90%+ of practitioners are white males), the conversation about diversity is moving in the right direction. #SpeakUpOrtho is an initiative geared to raising awareness of bias, inequities, and harassment within orthopaedic surgery. The movement created an anonymous form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1djmWjCihxM1IWrXcSN0LPPULW9XPP0WqE6eeeC6MeCc/viewform?edit_requested) to help survivors share their stories. As a collective, these stories allow us to acknowledge that this problem exists and enables us to sensitize our peers to the potential for culture change. #SpeakUpOrtho “wish[es] to highlight the stories of those who otherwise do not feel as if they have a voice, while also sharing positive experiences in which we see our colleagues doing and saying the right thing”. #SpeakUpOrtho gathers our voices and make sure people don’t feel alone in their experiences. The movement fosters active bystander advocacy so that those who are feeling powerless can speak up.
When was it started?
On March 2, 2021, a post was created on a private Facebook page called “Women in Orthopedics”. At the time, the Facebook group had about 1500 women in it. The post asked group members to share their experiences of the most sexist thing that had happened to them during their time in interviews, residency, fellowship, or their career. There are currently over 300 comments on that post. Somewhere around comment 150, Dr. Jennifer Weis, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in pediatrics, was tagged. As a surgeon whose goal is to help aspiring female surgeons find their place in medicine and encourage more women to join the women of orthopedics, Dr. Weis, along with other prominent female leaders in orthopedics, decide to gather an anonymous group to start the campaign called #SpeakUpOrtho. Since then, the group has been de-identifying anonymously submitted stories and sharing them on their social media pages. Although the stories are mostly sad, there are just as well empowering stories where women share their positive experiences.
What happened to it now?
This movement continues to promote the understanding of what needs to be changed and to foster an environment that allows any individual to excel in the field of orthopedic surgery. The goal of the movement is advocacy, and advocacy takes time and a lot more than just sharing shocking social media posts. Advocacy is spread through awareness, conversation, and education; we cannot just depend on the 6% of women in orthopedics to make things different for our future generations.
How can I get involved?
Follow the #SpeakUpOrtho social media pages!
- https://www.facebook.com/speakup.ortho
- https://mobile.twitter.com/speakuportho
- https://www.instagram.com/speakuportho/
Practice speaking up when you see abusive behavior, stand up for yourself and colleagues, show support by promoting an environment of inclusiveness and mutual respect.
“Make a difference with the things that make you different”
Written By: Lilly Groszman
