Medical Student Research Forum Posters

Mentorship has been shown to play a large part in career development, program retention and workplace satisfaction. Previous studies have shed light on the importance of improving the representation of women and racial minorities among faculty mentors across several medical specialties. This is especially true in the field of surgery, where female and minority representation has been historically low. Women, for example, represent only 15% of orthopaedic surgery residents while racial/ethnic minorities account for 3% to 10% of US orthopaedic surgeons. Recognizing these continued disparities, our study aimed to describe the implication and perception of need for same-sex and same-race mentorship and role models at evolving stages of a medical career, from medical student to resident to attending physician and to explore if these differences affect specific career choices within the field of medicine.