Demographics and Characteristics of Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program Directors: A Cross-sectional Review.

To date, there has been a paucity of research evaluating the demographics, characteristics, and surgical training of orthopaedic residency program directors (PDs). Purpose: To determine the objective characteristics of orthopaedic residency PDs by analyzing their demographic characteristics, academic backgrounds, institutional histories, research productivity, and professional leadership affiliations. Methods: Data for each PD were collected by searching publicly available Results: Of the 210 PDs, 188 (89.5%) were male and 22 (10.5%) were female. One hundred seventy-four (82.9%) were non-Hispanic White, 14 (6.7%) Asian American and Pacific Islander, 12 (5.7%) Black or African American, 4 (1.9%) Hispanic or Latino, and 6 (2.9%) other/unknown. Twenty-four (11.4%) PDs had a military affiliation. Moreover, the most common subspecialties among orthopaedic PDs were orthopaedic traumatology (19.5%, n = 41), sports medicine (15.7%, n = 33), and hand surgery (11.9%, n = 25). The mean Scopus Conclusions: Among orthopaedic surgery residency PDs, there is sparse female and minority representation. Overarchingly, orthopaedic PDs are White men in their early 50s. Moreover, 59.1% of PDs were appointed at an institution where they completed medical school, residency, or fellowship. orthopaedic traumatology (19.5%), sports medicine (15.7%), and hand surgery (11.9%) were the subspecialties most represented in current orthopaedic surgery PDs. Clinical Relevance: This study outlines important demographic characteristics among orthopaedic surgery residency PDs. Level of Evidence: III.