DAUK condemns the sexist and outdated stereotypes perpetuated in a recent national newspaper article on orthopaedic surgery.
The claim in the Times that women are biologically unsuited to orthopaedics is not only offensive – it is demonstrably false.
Orthopaedic surgery, like all surgical disciplines, is driven by technical skill, clinical judgement and teamwork – not brute strength.
Women have long excelled in these areas.
Female surgeons
The late Dame Clare Marx, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, was the first female President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Today, women make up more than 64 per cent of UK medical students and nearly 40 per cent of higher surgical trainees (RCS England, 2023).
In trauma and orthopaedics specifically, presently just 8.8 per cent of NHS consultants are women, the lowest proportion of any surgical speciality (NHS Digital, 2023).
However, this underrepresentation reflects systemic barriers and not a lack of aptitude. Women now account for 19 per cent of orthopaedic trainees, and that number is growing (BOA, 2024).
Critically, the notion that male surgeons perform better is unsupported.
A large-scale Canadian study of 1.2 million procedures found that patients treated by female surgeons had lower rates of complications and death than those treated by men (Wallis et al, JAMA Surgery, 2023). Similar results have been found in Sweden.
Tired tropes
Dr Matt Kneale, past chair of DAUK, said: “Surgery is about competence, not chromosomes.
“Women in orthopaedics are delivering outstanding care every day. These tired tropes do nothing but excuse the profession’s failure to address structural sexism.”
Dr Shonnelly Novintan, DAUK’s Learn Not Blame lead, said: “As a female surgical trainee, I believe we have a duty to call out sexist behaviour. It undermines colleagues, deters future trainees, and ultimately compromises patient care.
“Articles like this are disheartening — not because they reflect reality, but because they reinforce the very stereotypes we strive to dismantle.
Challenge
“The real challenge isn’t our capability; it’s the culture that still questions it.”
Orthopaedics needs culture change, not reinforcement of stereotypes. Female surgeons are not the problem. The environment they sometimes enter can be.
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Picture credit: Stefanie Belinda on Unsplash.
