View Larger Image

January 19, 2021

Theresa Wyrick, M.D., appointed to AOC Leadership Team; Co-Chair of Women’s Leadership Forum

By Jennifer Gurley 

DEPARTMENT OF ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY – Theresa Wyrick-Glover, M.D., Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, was recently appointed to the leadership team of the Academic Orthopaedic Consortium (AOC) and will serve as Co-Chair of the Women’s Leadership Forum.

The Academic Orthopaedic Consortium (AOC) was established in 2005 to nationally organize the leadership of  Academic Orthopaedic Departments for the purpose of developing a national clearinghouse of information to help orthopaedic leaders better understand, manage, and to optimize their business and operational positions with best practices and better context of the national academic landscape.  At a national level, the AOC offers its over 2,700 members benchmark analyses such as orthopaedic compensation, clinical productivity, administrative and operational best practices as well as annual meetings focused on business and leadership for administrators and orthopaedic surgeons. 

The AOC Women’s Executive Leadership Forum was established last March as an avenue for women to come together and advance the profession through dialogue, education, and mentorship. The forum aims to provide a series of important initiatives and a national network specifically for its female members, including webinars, peer mentorship, and a special symposium within the annual meeting.

Dr. Wyrick had the following to say about her appointment:

“I’m passionate about mentoring women in orthopaedic surgery and have benefited from many amazing mentors in my career both male and female.  Although recruiting women to the field of orthopaedics is important, we must also intentionally support them once they join us.  In my role as Co-Chair of the AOC Women’s Forum this year, I hope to provide that support.  For me, diversity in orthopaedics is not just a checkbox, it’s a mission.”

Although women account for approximately half of all medical students in the United States, female orthopaedic surgery residents represent just 0.92% of all female medical residents and orthopaedic surgery remains the medical specialty with the lowest proportion of female residents at 14.0%.  At UAMS, women account for 16.7% of orthopaedic surgery residents.

In addition, women account for about 17% of full-time orthopedic surgery faculty at U.S. medical schools, the lowest rate of all medical specialties.

As a member of that 17% population, Wyrick leads by example.  A Little Rock native and graduate of UAMS, she joined the UAMS faculty as an assistant professor in 2009 after completing her fellowship training at the Philadelphia Hand Center at Thomas Jefferson University.  In 2012, she was named the Section Chief for Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery at UAMS and the Medical Director for the Hand and Upper Extremity Division at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.  In 2014, she was promoted to associate professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Wyrick’s work to support and advance women in the field includes recently organizing and hosting a virtual event in which female orthopaedic surgery residency applicants were able to learn from current women faculty members and residents of UAMS Orthopaedics as they shared insight into what it’s like to be a female orthopaedic surgeon in training. For residents, she serves as a role model and mentor, and under her leadership, UAMS has hosted the Perry Initiative, a nonprofit program which provides early exposure to orthopaedics for female high school and medical students.