S8E02 - Awareness of Inherent Racial and Gender Bias - Dr. Melissa Zimel

How are biases present in orthopedic surgery? This is the main discussion topic with Dr. Melissa Zimel, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Oncology at UCSF. Bias is defined as prejudice in favor of or against someone or something. She reflects on the concept of conscious and unconscious bias too, and the implications it can have on the community. She shares that one can train its brain to identify these implicit biases and then applies this to an orthopedic surgeon. Biases are normal; sometimes, we don’t even know we have them. Dr. Zimel shares her thoughts about this topic, not only in private practice or academic settings; But on hiring processes, school applications, and more.  Biases are intrinsic to human nature. However, we can work to be more aware and eradicate them to improve our practice. 

Om Podcasten

The Digital Orthopaedics Conference San Francisco (DOCSF) was created to bridge the worlds of digital health and clinical orthopaedics and thereby catalyze the adoption of technology in musculoskeletal care. This podcast series features key speakers and highlights from the live event. Why orthopaedics? We believe that embedding digital technologies in a narrow integrated vertical is more likely to affect change than targeting one-fifth of the U.S. economy. We also believe that if a conference is to move the ball forward, it needs to target leaders who are positioned to drive change. These leaders want a conference that is practical, identifies solutions to real problems, and that provides perspective from people outside their normal circle. To this end, we invite Health Care, Industry, Finance, Entrepreneurs and Payers to participate. The DOCSF program design uses many educational formats including ‘case studies’ to illustrate success and a broad panel of experts to ask tough questions. And because change does not happen in a vacuum, we include leadership, policy and design segments in the program. Find out more, and register for our next conference, by visiting docsf.health.