Department of Orthopaedics

Recruitment & Retention

Learn more about department efforts to strengthen recruitment and engagement across a broad range of backgrounds at Brown and beyond.

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Institutional Partners

The Office of Belonging, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at The Warren Alpert Medical School promotes social responsibility, active engagement, and the well-being of our communities in the pursuit of health equity.

Recruitment & Retention

Learn more about department efforts to strengthen recruitment and engagement across a broad range of backgrounds at Brown and beyond.

While there is growing momentum for recruitment and retention initiatives across all specialties in medicine nationally, the need is even more marked in orthopedics extending beyond underrepresented minorities. Women make up less than 10% of practicing orthopedic surgeons nationally. Recent literature suggests that at least until recently, even after normalizing all accountable academic metrics, all minorities may still be at a disadvantage applying for orthopedic residency.

We are a proud partner of Nth Dimensions.

Nth Dimensions logo

We hosted the Orthopedics session of Brown University's Mentorship, Early Exposure, and Training in Surgery (MEETS) program for local high school students on April 16th, 2025.

instructor teaching students in a classroom

Women's Orthopedic Leadership Forum

The Orthopaedic Department and Brown AMS's Women's Orthopedic Leadership Forum hosted a Women in Orthopedics dinner on August 14, 2024.

Leadership Forum

Initiatives

The Department of Orthopaedics at Brown is actively working across multiple recruitment and retention initiatives:

Co-sponsored by the Orthopaedics Department and The Warren Alpert Medical School’s Office of Belonging, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, the Diversity in Medicine Visiting Student Scholarship Program awards a number of housing and travel stipends for qualified fourth-year students to participate in clinical electives. Please apply for this opportunity through VSLO. It is titled "DVS0009 - DVS - Orthopedic Surgery. Applicants are encouraged to apply early and questions should be directed to diversity-visiting-scholarship@brown.edu. More information can be found on the Visiting Student Scholarship website.

Visiting Student Scholarship

Women in Orthopedics Scholarship

Sponsored internally by the Department, the Brown Women in Orthopedics Scholarship Program awards housing and travel stipends to qualified fourth year visiting medical students with a demonstrated commitment to advancing the role of women in orthopedics. The Program awards stipends regardless of an applicant's gender. To apply for this scholarship, please contact Bernadette Sessa separate from VSLO.

Hosted by The Warren Alpert Medical School, the Diversity in Medicine Virtual Residency Recruitment Fair is held annually in August for all the departments of the medical school. The Orthopaedics Department participates annually and encourages prospective residency applicants, who are unable to rotate in person, to participate in the question-and-answer session.

several people posing for a photo — Dr. Vanessa Lund, Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics and co-Chair of the department’s Recruitment & Retention Committee, organized another successful Perry Initiative event held at The Warren Alpert Medical School on January 8, 2024. Faculty and orthopedic trainees participated in teaching first and second year female medical students about orthopedics, practicing orthopedic procedures on sawbones. The goal of this program is to expand opportunities and increase participation in the field of orthopedics.

Visit the Perry Initiative website for more information about the program.

Perry Initiative

Recruitment & Retention Committee

Christopher Born, MD

Intrepid Heroes Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Eleanor Burstein, MD
Sarah Criddle, MD

Orthopedic Resident
Manuel DaSilva, MD

Associate Professor of Orthopaedics, Hand Fellowship Director
Raymond Hsu, MD

Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics, Residency Program Director
Zainab Ibrahim, MD

2024-2025 Trauma Fellow
Julia Katarincic, MD

Vice Chair of Clinical Operations, Professor of Orthopaedics, Hand and Microvascular Surgery Division Chief
Vanessa Lund, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics
Jeffrey Okewunmi, MD

Orthopedic Resident
Lauren Piana, MD

Orthopedic Resident
Sydney Rozenfeld, MD

Orthopedic Resident
Kathryn Segal, MD

Orthopedic Resident