Diversity and Academic Accomplishments for Presidents Elected to Domestic and International Hip and Knee Adult Reconstruction Societies
Rolanda Willacy MD*, Regan Burgess MD, Kyle Andrade-Bucknor, Nia Dudley, Cliffic Guidry, Raven Hollis, Jaliah Allen, Brittany Major and Marvin Dingle MD
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Over the past two decades, orthopaedic subspecialty leadership has had increased scrutiny for its lack of diversity and transparency, particularly within adult reconstruction societies such as the Hip Society, Knee Society, AAHKS, the European Hip Society, International Hip Society and the British Hip Society. Academic accomplishments and demographics for Presidents of hip and knee arthroplasty societies remain poorly understood. This study seeks to characterize the demographic evolution of leaders in adult reconstruction societies using publicly available information to assess changes in age, sex, race/ethnicity, and training background.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional review of orthopedic leadership demographics across six major arthroplasty societies from 2017-2026: The Hip Society, The Knee Society, American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS), European Knee Society, International Hip Society, and British Hip Society. For every identified leader, we collected key demographic and educational variables. The primary data points included: age at appointment to leadership position, sex, race, number of years leadership position was held, arthroplasty fellowship training, location, private or academic practice, and any additional degrees or fellowship training completed. Data was obtained from each of the society archives and websites, as well as missing data supplemented through directories and verified professional biographies found on the publicly accessible sources.
Results: There were 53 arthroplasty presidents across the six major societies analyzed. Most presidents were male (98.1%) and Caucasian (90.57%). There was one female president (1.88%) and five non-Caucasian presidents (9.43%), including one Asian president (1.88%) and one Persian/Iranian president (1.88%), two Indian president (3.77%), and one Lebanese president (1.88%). There were no significant differences in demographics between the six arthroplasty organizations and the two time periods (P > .05). The most common fellowship programs of Society Presidents were Massachusetts General Hospital (13.2%), Hospital for Special Surgery (11.3%), Mayo Clinic - Rochester (11.3%), and Rush (7.5%).
Conclusion: While there is diversity of experiences in Adult Reconstruction society presidents, there are still opportunities to promote gender, as well as racial and ethnic diversity amongst leaders in this subspecialty
