Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Inspired by the amazing video highlighting Black women physicians at Emory University’s School of Medicine, the Duke University School of Medicine’s DPT and OTD programs celebrate Black History Month.

The mission of the Duke Orthopaedics Orthopaedic Inclusion Workforce is to ensure that the best and the brightest individuals are represented within orthopaedics and given equitable opportunity to make invaluable contributions to the advancements in musculoskeletal healthcare. The OIW works to emphasize workplace inclusion and civility within our department and strives to increase cultural awareness and representation for improved health literacy, improved patient-provider communication and trust, and more efficient access to the delivery of care. 

Accepted Charges

• Connect diverse students with mentors and facilitate exposure to orthopaedic surgery (Medical Education Experience)
• Build a department culture that embraces diversity and inclusion (Faculty Experience)
• Transform Duke Orthopaedics to represent the changing cultures of our patients, positively impacting the delivery of musculoskeletal care (Patient Experience) 

Guiding Principles

Inclusion
We are committed to creating an inclusive culture within our department to allow diverse individuals to thrive on both training and faculty levels

Equity
The goal is that diverse individuals be afforded truly equitable opportunities for excellence without exclusion from majority programs or protocols.

Respect
Discrimination based on gender or ethnic background will not be tolerated by any department member, whether in the form of overt bias or micro-aggressions. 

Accountability 
Department and committee leaders will be responsible for implementing and supporting outlined initiatives.

OIW Members
Erica Taylor, MD, Chair of OIW
Ben Alman, Department Chair; Janet Bettger, Director of Health Policy and Implementation Science Research; Michael Bolognesi, MD; Chanel Copeland, PA, MHS; Melissa Erickson, MD; Jeff Hoder, DPT; Caroline Hyde, Assistant to Head of Shoulder Surgery Section; Gloria Liu, MD; John McCall, Vice Chief of Administration and Operations Doctor of Physical Therapy Division and Occupational Therapy Doctorate Division; Kay Pallo, Staff Assistant for Dr’s Ruch and Richard; Dara Purvis, Chief Administrator, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery; Rachel Reilly, MD; William Richardson, MD; David Ruch, MD; Thorsten Seyler, MD, Dean Taylor, MD; Robyn Miller, Human Resources

Erica Taylor Leads on Inclusive Skin Tone Bandages in PDC

A small change in supplies at Duke Health is making a big statement to patients – we see you. Private Diagnostic Clinic (PDC) providers can now order bandages in a range of skin tones. This new option draws less attention to an injury or post-procedure covering, and more importantly, it supports an inclusive environment.

Led by the PDC’s Associate Chief Medical Officer Dr. Erica Taylor and PDC Fellows Addison Newman and Ellice Mae Sanchez to make patients feel more included and “seen” when visiting our clinics, the bandages are available for ordering now. “We have high-level strategies, short-term goals, longitudinal plans, and everything in between. With this initiative, we wanted patients to know, above everything else, that we are considering them in the decisions we make day-to-day. This includes reviewing our bandage inventory,” said Erica Taylor, MD, MBA, associate chief medical officer for diversity, equity, and inclusion with the PDC. “This is one tangible demonstration of how it matters to us that our patients are represented in the operations of our clinics.”

Clinics can purchase skin tone bandages from Buy@Duke (click Buy@Duke tab). 

#WhiteCoatsforBlackLives
Ortho team members marched in a peaceful protest against systemic racism and the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.
David Kerr, Sneha Rao, Melissa Erickson, Ed Baldwin, Dan Lorenzana, Alex Lazarides, Brian Dial, John Wickman, and Kendall Bradley laid down for 8 minutes 46 seconds in solidarity as part of #WhiteCoatsForBlackLives ‬

The Perry Initiative: A Game Changer

There are more than 20,000 practicing orthopedic surgeons in the United States. Orthopaedic surgery has been cited as being one of the least diverse specialties. Despite over 50% of medical students being female, only 15% of orthopaedic surgery residents are female, and less than 6% of practicing orthopaedic surgeons are female. Discussions and actions needed to address this issue can be challenging. Duke Orthopaedic spine surgeon Dr. Melissa Erickson is doing her part to help.

Read more about the 2023 Perry Initiative gathering at Duke.

The Duke DPT DiversiTea Newsletter was envisioned to create a sustainable, interactive collection of work that embodies diversity, equity, and inclusion. Content for each newsletter can be submitted by students, faculty, and/or staff; submissions contain both historical and current events, and the content is multimodal, including art, music, literature, dance, etc. A DiversiTea & Coffee session follows publication when people gather and discuss their favorite pieces and talk about to apply them to the practice of physical therapy. View the newsletter.

School of Medicine Moments to MovementThe Duke University School of Medicine is committed to dismantling racism and to better understanding the root causes, harms, and strategies to reduce racial inequity. This commitment, known as Moments to Movement (M2M), extends within our institutional walls, our surrounding community, and our nation.
 

The PDC's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts are led by Dr. Erica Taylor, assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and PDC Associate Chief Medical Officer. The primary goal is to create a coordinated strategy across Duke Health to provide equitable care to patients and create an environment of inclusion and belonging for caregivers and trainees.
 

There are more than 20,000 practicing orthopedic surgeons in the United States. Orthopaedic surgery has been cited as being one of the least diverse specialties. Despite over 50% of medical students being female, only 15% of orthopaedic surgery residents are female, and less than 6% of practicing orthopaedic surgeons are female. Discussions and actions needed to address this issue can be challenging. Duke Orthopaedic spine surgeon Dr. Melissa Erickson is doing her part to help.  

For the past several years, Dr. Erickson has facilitated hosting the Perry Initiative’s Outreach Program at Duke. This provides a hands-on introduction to the field of Orthopaedic Surgery for women in medical school and engineering for women in high school. The program was named in honor of Dr. Jacquelin Perry, who was among the first woman certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and was a pioneer in the field of gait analysis and post-polio rehabilitation. The Perry Initiative was founded in 2009 by Dr. Jenni Buckley (a mechanical engineer) and Dr. Lisa Lattanza (an orthopaedic surgeon) to get women excited about two predominantly male fields. Today, the Perry Initiative runs over 50 one-day outreach programs nationwide, reaching over 13,000 high school, college, and medical students through over 450 outreach events.