02/03/2026
National Women Physician Day is celebrated annually on February 3rd, to honor the birthday of Elizabeth Blackwell - the first woman to receive a medical degree in the US in 1849. She advocated for educating young girls and demonstrating empathy in the practice of medicine. She faced extraordinary sexism. Regarding this sexism, Dr. Megan Swanson says: “It is truly shocking and disappointing that the sexism continues. Looking at the large orthopedic groups in our state, one can see that they are consistently almost completely male dominated. That is not an accident and it is not because women are not in the medical field. In fact, more than half of today’s medical students are female.”
Unfortunately, literature indicates that sexism is widespread in orthopedic surgery, with female surgeons facing high rates of gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, and a "boys' club" culture. Key challenges include a lack of female mentors, bullying, devaluation of skills, and pressure to conform to male-dominated environments. Dr. Swanson further adds: “If we don’t talk about it, and call it out into the light, then nothing changes. If nothing changes, then orthopedic patients lose out on access to some of the best medical students who choose not to go into orthopedics. Also, we lose the chance to ask better research questions as we know that diverse researchers ask more robust research questions.”
