With an increasing aging population and obesity rates, various healthcare organizations are evolving to meet the needs of the changing patient demographic. Nth Dimensions is one of these organizations striving to educate the surgical population to successfully provide care for such patients.
"Nth Dimensions came together through an innovative approach to invest in the next generation of surgeons," says Bonnie Mason, MD, a former orthopedic surgeon and founder of Nth Dimensions. "What we need is a surgical workforce that can serve our changing markets. We are educating surgeons to be leaders and decision makers."
When Dr. Mason was a chief resident, she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Although she was able to practice for another few years, she had to rethink her career path and found a way to integrate her experience as an orthopedic surgeon into a business model that would benefit the medical community. "After my diagnosis, I never felt that taking the arduous path to become an orthopedic surgeon was in vain," Dr. Mason says. "I knew there was a reason to take that particular path."
Dr. Mason used her experience to create a pipeline curriculum, which is the foundation of Nth Dimensions. Nth Dimensions uses a longitudinal approach to take first-year female and minority medical students and expose them to musculoskeletal medicine and orthopedics. Dr. Mason went into orthopedics in the mid-1990s as an orthopedic surgeon who had never met a fellow woman orthopedic surgeon until she met Claudia Thomas, MD, the first board-certified, African-American female orthopedic surgeon in the country.
"She served a crucial role as a mentor," Dr. Mason says. "More importantly, my connection with her triggered in me the confidence that I could succeed in achieving my goals."
Nth Dimensions has taken an action oriented and innovative approach to align stakeholders from different sectors to come together to train the next generation of surgeons.
"Having multiple stakeholders has allowed us to develop these comprehensively- prepared surgeons who have an understanding about the healthcare environment from a clinical and economic perspective," Dr. Mason said. "This is what the 21st century surgeon needs to look like and it's our ultimate goal."
The proof lies in the numbers. Of the students who graduate from Nth Dimensions over its nearly twelve year history, almost half pursue careers in orthopedic surgery. On average, of the female graduates, 75 percent of applicants who applied for an orthopedic residency were matched. Three out of four minority scholars matched an orthopedic residency slot. In 2015, Nth Dimensions had a 92 percent match rate for orthopedics, which Dr. Mason attributes to, "the ongoing developmental support we give our students."
More than 33 percent of all African-American residents that are in training right now have participated in Nth Dimensions at some point in their medical school or residency career. A third of Nth Dimensions' graduates who match orthopedic residency slots are women. To put this in perspective, merely 14 percent of orthopedic residents throughout the country are female.
"We wanted to get everyone involved including surgeons from academia and private practice, professional association, and industry. Everyone can invest in this process," says Dr. Mason. "It only makes smart business sense to do so and invest in the next generation of surgeons."
The program has three phases:
Phase I – Early exposure to orthopedics
There are more than 40 mentors in the program – including practicing male and female orthopedic surgeons – who want to support and serve as role models to women and minorities aspiring to go into orthopedics.
The program introduces medical students to orthopedics via Sawbones Workshops, simulated orthopedic surgeries led by volunteer surgeons, and a series of clinical lectures in musculoskeletal medicine. In the workshop, students can perform surgery on artificial bones with real orthopedic surgery instrumentation, which Zimmer Biomet, Nth Dimensions' founding sponsor, provides.
"The programs give students an in-depth hands-on experience in the field," Dr. Mason explains. "It becomes a point of interest for students who have never met an orthopedic surgeon or ever dreamed of being one."
Phase II — Orthopedic summer internship
The flagship program for Nth Dimensions provides an eight-week clinical and research internship, which occurs over the summer for first-year medical students. Students shadow practicing orthopedic surgeons in a variety of settings such as an operating room, an office or an ER.
"Students are able to interface with multiple surgeons clinically within that surgeon's department or practice," Dr. Mason adds. "Students are building awareness first-hand about what orthopedics looks like and feels like, in addition to building their research skills."
The second part of the internship requires completion of a research project. Students are able to present their research at national meetings, with many students taking their research all the way to publication. Applicants for the internship are very competitive and the program captures "some of the talent from a pool of students that usually goes untapped."
More than 175 students have gone through the program since its inception nearly 12 years ago, allowing many students to gain exposure to orthopedics.
Phase III — Ongoing relationships
Nth Dimensions collaborates with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery, J. Robert Gladden Society, Ruth Jackson Society, American Academy of Latino Orthopaedic Surgeons and The Perry Initiative to provide students with ongoing didactic and clinical skills training, and meets with them at AAOS annual meetings. Nth Dimensions follows medical students throughout their training, providing support to prepare for future careers.
"What we have found, through this developmental approach, has been the point of differentiation of being able to develop the next generation of surgeons," Dr. Mason says. "We want to instill core values of excellence in being clinicians, researchers, professionals and providing service."
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