Ортопед из числа меньшинств призывает увеличить представленность афроамериканцев в медицине

Shining the spotlight on one of the least diverse medical fields Only about 2% of all practicing orthopedic surgeons are African American, calling attention to the great need. That's a goal of one of the newest members of University Orthopedics, who hopes he's the first of many to come. He's a former athlete himself who recently worked as a team doctor for the Boston Celtics. "It was a great experience, one that I will never forget," said Dr. Joseph Ehiorobo, who recently got the chance to be a team doctor for the Celtics through his fellowship with New England Baptist Hospital, a premier orthopedic training program. "Anytime you work with athletes it really adds to your knowledge," said Ehiorobo. During that time he saw a wide range of injuries. "Everything from fractured fingers, you know, this year the big one obviously was Jayson Tatum and dealing with his Achilles tear and managing that," said Ehiorobo. A former athlete himself, this orthopedic surgeon played a number of sports including hockey at Boston College, something he believes will make him more relatable to patients with sports injuries. "I've been there, I've had injuries, I've had broken bones, I've had surgeries for athletic injuries. The only thing they wanna know is 'doc, what's wrong with me, how do I get back to optimal strength, how long's it going to take', so being able to relate--I know what they're feeling because I've been in their positions before," said Ehiorobo. He's also acutely aware of how few of him -- orthopedic surgeons of color -- there are. "And I hope that being one of the few minorities I can bring awareness to and show other people that this is a great field, I just hope I can be someone they can look up to and bring awareness to the field, especially to minorities and women," said Ehiorobo.