OrthoCarolina DEI Series: Journey to Inclusion in Orthopedics [vol 1]

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Orthopedics is a courageous journey where the destination is an inclusive work environment and a sense of belonging for all.

Meet OrthoCarolina's DEI Series

In this monthly series, "OrthoCarolina DEI Series:??Journey to Inclusion in Orthopedics", we will be sharing our journey with you as we implement initiatives focused on diversity in:

• Recruitment
• Retention
• Education, &
• Community Outreach

Throughout this series, you can expect discussion and activities around those 4 initiatives.??There will also be opportunities for you to share your DEI orthopedics experiences and journey as well.??This is an excursion we will take together! It will be real, challenging, and important. Be sure that you're following OrthoCarolina on LinkedIn (and other social media) to stay up to date on this series as well as other orthopedics excellence initiatives.

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Let’s begin….

This Month's Topic: Recognition & Reporting of Child Abuse in Orthopedics

Recognition and reporting of child abuse are often an unwanted task for our orthopedic surgeons.??However, it is a task that must be done appropriately and unbiased.

As part of our education initiative, OrthoCarolina recently had our local Department of Social Services Child Protective Services (CPS) discuss reporting of unexplained injuries in children and the disproportionality in race in those reports. It is extremely important to build partnerships with government agencies in order to address serious matters like these for the community.

For example, the reporting data of FY21, Black children were 5.6 times more likely than White children to receive a screened-in CPS referral.?During the discussion, the department gave OrthoCarolina kudos for being such a great partner in the community when reporting these unexplained injuries.??Meaning, OrthoCarolina's efforts to provide appropriate and unbiased recognition and reporting of child abuse was top notch.

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Let's Discuss

How does your Orthopedic clinic report unexplained injuries in children??Is there any disproportionality of race in your reports??If so, what are you considering implementing to create change? Join the discussion by commenting on this article.

Meet Velonda Dantzler: