‘Empowering to make a change.’ Novant Health helping address diversity in medicine

CHARLOTTE, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — A nationally recognized non-profit has partnered with Novant Health in Charlotte to bridge the gap between under-represented patients and individuals who aspire to be in the medical profession.

Since 2006, Nth Dimension has worked to “diversify” the medical profession.

Studies detail that women and minority individuals are often overlooked for positions.

Nth Dimension plugs up minority and female medical students with hospitals across the country so they can get hands-on experience to help them better compete for jobs.

Novant Health in Charlotte has welcomed two of these students, who have shadowed doctors in the Orthopedic Trauma Surgery field.

Rachel Safo, is one of those students, and said, “It’s empowering to make a change in such a not very diverse field.”

Numbers show that females make up 6% to 8% of orthopedic surgeons, while minorities make up 2% of orthopedic surgeons.

Minority women, however, don’t even make up 1% of surgeons.

“That’s scary to think about,” Rachel explained. “It’s like, ‘Where can I even fit in in this?’ But in the same token, that number’s so little. I have to be part of the change to increase that.”

Darrin Ward is training alongside her as well and said he was told by others this was a profession he could not do for one reason or another.

Now, he’s seized an opportunity to prove those people wrong.

He said he wants to do it to better the outcome of patients who look like him. “When you look at your patient population, a lot of times if they see someone that looks like them, they’re more likely to open up.”

Doctors have detailed that diversity is crucial in the medical field because it brings about new ideas and ways to address barriers that patients face nationwide.

The pair have spent their summer learning with Dr. Larry Martin Jr., a minority orthopedic surgeon, and Dr. Lisa Cannada, a female orthopedic trauma surgeon.

Both said they were faced with “noise” that could have disrupted their chance at achieving their goal of being a surgeon, but they realized they were to become a part of writing the next history of healthcare.

Dr. Martin Jr. said, “We don’t have as many minorities going into don’t have as many minorities accepted to it. Got a lot of studies that show that these groups aren’t treated as quickly as efficiently as well as those of the majority groups because you don’t have that same interaction, that same comfort, that same understanding.”

Dr. Cannada explained that when she entered the field in 2001, female surgeons made up 2% of orthopedic surgeons.

She was also told she could not do the job because she was a female.

She not only has been successful, but explained that “her goal was to make it better . . . show that you can have a family, you can have kids, and do this job.”

The students not only sit in on surgeries but can actively help with them and learn various ways to treat patients.

By doing so, Nth Dimension and Novant Health believe this will give them a leg-up when seeking out jobs in the orthopedic surgery field and create a continual pipeline to fill future vacant positions in the field.

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