Pigs Feet and Power Tools: Young women experience ortho surgery at Kaiser Permanente

Sofia Herrera, 16, of Hayward was learning the finer points of spinal fusion techniques, under the watchful eyes of Dr. Pearl Hu, an orthopedic surgeon from Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center. The spine that Sofia was working with was a medical model at an event with the Perry Initiative where high school girls are encouraged to pursue careers at orthopedic surgeons.

"At Kaiser Permanente Northern California, we have many women orthopedic surgeons," said Dr. Hu. “However, in general, in the US and in the world, there is a surprisingly low number - both in practice and even in residencies - despite it being a great field for both men and women. And that's why we're here today, helping to facilitate this event for aspiring young women."

Herrera and 40 other female high school students spent Saturday morning and afternoon at three tables in Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, suturing wounds in preserved pigs feet, performing open reduction internal fixations of broken bones, using sawbones models, power tools and real screws and plates, and preparing rods for spinal fusions. The women were using multi-function power tools and drills, which are part of actual orthopedic surgical sessions.

“I want to be an orthopedic surgeon, and programs like this help us break through especially when there’s less than 5% of women physicians who are orthopedic surgeons,’ said Herrera. .

In 2009, two women in San Francisco decided to do something about the shortage of women orthopedic surgeons and engineers. Engineer Jenni Buckley and surgeon Dr. Lisa Lattanza founded the Perry Initiative to expose young women to the fields and inspire them to choose those careers.

Since then, 6,000 young women nationwide have applied to experience the day-long outreach programs, which include hands-on medical and engineering work, lectures, and Q&A sessions. Kaiser Permanente San Jose and Santa Clara Medical Centers and their physicians have hosted two of the programs.

“Young women need early experiences like this to give them confidence later on,” said Dr. Katherine Gray, a Kaiser Permanente orthopedic surgeon and a team physician for the San Jose Sharks hockey team. “Because there are so few female orthopedic surgeons to serve as role models, female medical students may shy away from the field.”