The Harvard Combined Orthopedic Program is working to change the perception that orthopedic surgery isn't a boys only specialty, according to the Boston Herald.
Here are five things to know.
1. Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center are combining efforts to increase the number of females in the combined orthopedic program. All facilities are based in Boston.
2. Currently, the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Program includes 16 women or 12 percent of its 132 orthopedic residents.
3. The group is hosting its first-ever Bones Initiative summit. The free training session will allow female medical students in the area to learn to suture, splint and fix fractures.
4. While Harvard's orthopedic residency program has a higher percentage of women than the national average, there is still work to be done to eliminate the stigma women are not strong enough to work in orthopedics. Women make up roughly 6 percent of orthopedic surgeons.
5. Brigham's Chief of Women's Sports Medicine Elizabeth Matzkin, MD, is 5 feet 3 inches and has never had issues with procedures that take physical strength.
She told the Boston Herald, "You figure it out. I've climbed onto stretchers when I've needed to. But even in 2018, people will say, 'You're an orthopedic surgeon? Are you big enough?'"