Diversity and Inclusion

The Wake Forest Orthopaedic Residency is committed to preparing diverse, ambitious trainees for their orthopaedic career through education, mentoring, clinical training, and professional development. We provide the foundation for you to achieve your professional goals in a collaborative and supportive environment.

In July 2019, Drs. Holly Pilson and Artina Dawkins were appointed as Co-directors of Diversity and Inclusion for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Health by Dr. L. Andrew Koman, Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery. This appointment recognizes the commitment of the department of Orthopaedic Surgery to continue meaningful and lasting efforts towards creating a more diverse and inclusive environment at Wake Forest Baptist.

Both Dr. Pilson and Dr. Dawkins have years of leadership experience in as well as a passion for workforce diversity in orthopaedic surgery. Additionally, they have expertise in strategies for successful mentoring relationships and fostering innovative collaborations with internal and external organization and programs that share a similar mission.

Mission

The Mission of the Diversity and Inclusion initiatives of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is to:

Promote and foster an environment and culture that is welcoming and conducive to collaborative learning, teaching, and working alongside people from all backgrounds and experiences.
Maintain a culture of diversity and inclusivity which provides the most informed, respectful, and comprehensive care for all patients.

Vision

The Vision of the Diversity and Inclusion initiatives of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is to:

Comprehensively embrace the unique abilities, perspectives, and backgrounds of those we train, those we work alongside of and those we touch through patient care and community outreach and engagement.
Promote the recruitment, nurturing and retention of diverse and outstanding trainees, faculty and staff to support our mission and values.

Value

Diversity
Demonstrate respect and inclusion of all backgrounds, identifies, experiences and perspectives

Service
Cultivate selfless contribution for the greater good.

Compassion
Responsive to the physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual needs of all

Integrity
Demonstrate fairness, honesty, sincerity and accountability

Collegiality
Foster mutual respect, facilitate professional growth & mentorship and reward teamwork and collaboration.

Safety
Embrace a culture of reliability through patient and employee centered process design and accountability.

Program Support

Artina Dawkins, PhD, MPA, C-TAGME

Co-Director of Diversity and Inclusion

Program Manager, Orthopaedic Surgery

Director, Kennedy-Hopkins Scholars Mentor Program

Holly Tyler-Paris Pilson, MD

Vice Chair - Social Impact

Associate Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery

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Projects and Outreach Programs

The department of Orthopaedic Surgery is honored to partner with internal and external organizations to collaborate on the following programs and outreach events:

Nth dimensions Summer Internship Program

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Health is a proud partner with Nth Dimensions, an educational non-profit founded by surgeons to address the dearth of women and underrepresented minorities in medicine. The overarching goal of Nth Dimensions is to address and eliminate healthcare disparities across all communities.

Learn more Nth Dimensions Summer Internship Program.

Kennedy Hopkins Scholars Mentor Program

The Kennedy Hopkins Scholars Mentor program, founded in March 2018 by Dr. Artina Dawkins, was created to provide an additional layer of professional and personal support for minoritized residents and fellows training at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Kennedy-Hopkins Scholars offers opportunities for mentorship, professional development, community engagement, and meaningful interactions with participants in the program.

A Heart of Champion

Heart of A Champion Day is an annual free sports-specific health screening and educational program provided in partnership with Brenner Children's Hospital for high school student athletes. The screenings include a review of the athlete's medical history, a sports-specific medical and musculoskeletal exam, a heart exam and a vision test.

The program is unique because of the heart screening, where all student athletes receive an electrocardiogram (EKG), which traces the heart's electrical activity. A heart screening is performed to increase the chance of detecting a heart problem that could affect an athlete's ability to participate in sports safely.

ODySSEY in Orthopaedics

ODySSEY in Orthopaedics is community outreach developed as a pathway program to promote early exposure to the field of orthopaedic surgery. This initiative is supported by a grant from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ Inspiring Diversity Equity, and Access (IDEA) and a grant from an internal Orthopaedic Wellness, Life, Education, and Service (OWLES) committee within orthopaedic surgery. The program entails hosting a guest orthopaedic surgeon for a journal club and a Grand Rounds presentation as well as conducting a hands-on skills lab for middle school youth at a local school. Launched in March 2023, the program objectives are to increase early exposure to careers in orthopaedic surgery to middle school aged students from schools in the area surrounding our campus through hands on workshops and to increase middle school aged student exposure to orthopaedic surgeons who are underrepresented in orthopaedic surgery.

Running strong for 2023 and 2024, we aim to utilize Odyssey in Orthopaedics as a mechanism to continue to positively impact the local community in 2025. To date, the youth skills labs have been held at Wiley Middle School (Winston-Salem), Flat Rock Middle School (Winston-Salem), and Sedgefield Middle School (Charlotte).

Below are comments that the middle school participants made when asked about their experience with the lab:

“I had a good experience with [the] hands-on skills lab.”
“It was super fun! I learned so much about orthopaedics.”
“I did a better job than I thought I would. It was really fun but it took a lot of focus.

Diversity Awards (Internal)

Since 2020, Orthopaedic Surgery Diversity & Inclusion has conducted an awards program to recognize individuals within the department whose contributions align with the Atrium Health Culture Commitment of 'We create a space where all Belong.' Recipients are voted on by fellow teammates in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Two awards are given annually - the 'He for She' Award and the 'All for All' award. See award descriptions below as well as past recipients.

He for She Diversity and Inclusion Award

Award description: In 2019, the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society (RJOS) implemented a new annual award program, the “He For She” Award. This RJOS Award recognizes a male orthopaedic surgeon who serves as a strong mentor and sponsor for women in orthopaedics, supporting and empowering females at all stages of their careers to achieve their professional goals. In 2021, RJOS proudly changed the name of the Annual “He For She Award” to the “Freddie Fu He For She Award” to honor Dr. Fu’s lifelong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in orthopaedic surgery. He mentored and sponsored hundreds of women and underrepresented minorities and epitomizes the concept of “He For She”.

Selection Criteria:

Open advocate for women in orthopaedics
Continued support, mentorship and sponsorship for various women
Forward-minded, inclusive thinker

Past He for She award recipients:

2020: L. Andrew Koman, MD

2021: John Shields, MD

2022: Eben Carroll, MD

2023: Jason Halvorson, MD

All for All Diversity & Inclusion Award:

Award description: Modeled after the health system's Inclusion award, this award recognizes an individual or team that has demonstrated doing things differently to build an inclusive workplace that celebrates differences and welcomes, supports and affirms all employees – residents, fellows, students, staff, faculty, and volunteers in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation.

Selection Criteria: Award recipients will be selected based on exceptional contributions that empower, educate, energize, and elevate the diverse talent across our health system and department about the importance of inclusion.

Past All for All award recipients:

2020: Cynthia Emory, MD

2021: Fiesky Nunez, MD

2022: Dekarlos Dial, DPM

2023: Kerry Danelson, PhD

Diversity Weekend

Creating a climate of inclusion and embracing the diversity of our residents are priorities for Wake Forest University School of Medicine. With the leadership of Dr. Amber Brooks and Dr. Nancy Denizard-Thompson and in tandem with the WFSUM Graduate Medical Education Office, we have participated in this annual hospital-wide Diversity Weekend (Place this in bold) event since February 2019. During the event, we welcome residency candidates from minoritized groups to engage with our Institutional and departmental leadership, Diversity and Inclusion Co-Directors, residents, and community while also offering a deeper dive into the Winston-Salem community. The date for 2025 has not yet been announced.

Find out more about diversity and inclusion initiatives at Wake Forest Baptist.

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