Meet the women surgeons leading HCMC’s Orthopedic Department
(FOX 9) - On an average day for orthopedic surgeon Dr. Gudrun Mirick Mueller, preparations are underway to repair a patient's broken femur.
"I’m a trauma subspecialist. I fix broken bones," says Dr. Mirick. "People come to me more or less at their worst, some worse than others, and as they get better, you get better. It’s a way to graduate them, and that’s kind of the fulfillment."
Meet the doctors
Dr. Mirick is one of five orthopedic surgeons at Hennepin Healthcare who happen to be female. Several are quick to admit that working with power tools was an early part of their attraction to medicine.
Interim Chair Dr. Jackie Geissler grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, Dr. Jessica Downs is the daughter of an electrical contractor, Dr. Nancy Luger’s family owned a lumber company, and Dr. Emily Wagstrom was busy operating at the time of this interview. Together, they make up roughly half of the practicing orthopedic surgeons on staff at Hennepin County Medical Center. Compare that to the latest numbers from the Association of American Medical Colleges, which show that just 6.2% of all practicing orthopedic surgeons across the entire country are women.
"We still have barriers to deal with, and I think one of the biggest barriers is the stigma that it’s ‘carpentry on humans,’" says Dr. Downs. "Carpentry is traditionally thought of as a masculine discipline. So I think that’s one barrier."
"There are still some programs in the country that have never trained a woman," says Dr. Liza Arendt, University of Minnesota professor and vice-chair in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, and a faculty advisor for medical students.
Background
Several surgeons on the Hennepin team trained at the University of Minnesota under Dr. Arendt and Dr. Ann Van Heest. Dr. Arendt points to images of herself being the only woman in an orthopedic residency program in the early 1980s.
"I was also the first one to get pregnant and the first one to have a child, which was interesting because we didn’t have any maternity rules or maternity leave that was specific for a surgeon," says Dr. Arendt.
Through their work and decades of advocacy—putting surgical tools in the hands of students as young as high school through programs like the Perry Initiative—for the first time this year, the number of women across the nation entering orthopedics as first-year interns is 20%, the highest it’s ever been. At the University of Minnesota, the numbers remain even higher at 25%.
"It’s been really great because the graduates of this program have gone on to faculty positions, which really helps. It’s a snowball effect—the more women you have on faculty, the more women you attract to be interested in the field," says Dr. Van Heest, professor, vice chair of education, and residency program director in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Minnesota.
The snowball effect is evident at Hennepin, where, separate from the surgeons, the Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, are predominantly female: 9 out of 11 are women.
"For many women, it’s a great fit as a career because we can have a really exciting job and a good work-life balance," says Robin Hoenisch, a physician assistant at Hennepin Healthcare.
"We probably have more female fellows than most programs in the country," says Dr. Dick Kyle.
Why it's important
Former department chairs Dr. Dick Kyle and Dr. Andrew Schmidt are proud of all the surgeons they’ve hired, both men and women. Dr. Schmidt reminds us why diversity in every aspect of medicine is important. A paper published this year in Canada found that hospitals with more than 35% female surgeons and anesthesiologists on staff had better patient outcomes.
"And in those hospitals, if you were lucky enough to be a patient of one of those women, you were even better off," says Dr. Schmidt. "Diversity in general improves outcomes. So, whether it’s Black patients doing better with Black physicians or in the field of surgery, gender diversity is really important."
Whether they’re operating on someone following a car accident, sports injury, or slip and fall resulting in a broken arm, hip, knee, ankle, or sometimes all of the above, these "carpenters of the skeletal system" are shattering stereotypes and thriving in this physically demanding job.
"I remember when I started doing more work, I started weightlifting more," says Dr. Downs. "I thought, ‘I’ve got to improve my upper body strength to get these nails down.’ So yeah, I like the physicality of it."
"You’re on your feet for eight to ten hours, wearing lead for 80% of that time. By the end of the day, it’s challenging," says Dr. Nancy Luger.
"I think that having women colleagues and members is important. I think if you brute everything, you don’t have good skills," says Dr. Geissler. "Sometimes there’s a complication with forcing something that isn’t appropriate."
Make no mistake, it’s medical practice—which comes with challenges to learn from. Away from the operating room, every member of this orthopedic team we spoke to emphasized that their work-life balance would not be possible without massive support in their personal lives. Being on-call, working weekends and holidays, and managing long hours at a Level 1 trauma center is often easier with friends to learn from and lean on.
"It’s pretty cool when we actually stop and think about what we do every day. It’s pretty exciting."
For any students looking to explore a career in orthopedics, the Perry Initiative is coming up on October 12. Click here for more.