Demographics and Characteristics of Vice Chairs in Academic Orthopaedic Surgery Programs: A Descriptive Study.

Introduction: The Vice-chair (VC) position is gaining popularity in academic orthopaedic surgery departments; however, there is a paucity of information regarding qualifications and career advancements associated with this role. The purpose of this study was to define the characteristics of current orthopaedic surgery department VCs.

Design: Descriptive study following a retrospective web-based search utilizing the Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA) database and orthopaedic surgery residency program websites.

Setting: 200 ACGME-accredited orthopaedic surgery residency programs across the United States.

Participants: Program name and hospital affiliations were collected from the FREIDA database to account for all ACGME-accredited programs. The following information was derived from publicly available program websites: title, role description, previously trained institutions, academic rank, and concurrent roles of VCs. Research productivity was measured using the H-index. The previous roles of current Department Chairs (DC) were also evaluated.

Results: Of the 178 VCs identified, VC of Research (n = 36; 20%), Education (n = 25; 14%), and Clinical Operations/Affairs (n = 21; 12%) were the most common titles. Women made up 17% (n = 30) of the VCs. Trauma (n = 36; 20%) was the most common fellowship subspecialty among VCs. The average H-index for VCs was 25. Among VCs, 94 (53%) were professors, 78 were also Chiefs/Heads/Directors (44%), 7 (4%) were Fellowship Directors, and 18 (10%) were Residency Directors. Twenty-six of 95 (27%) current DC had VC experience.

Conclusion: The findings can facilitate effective leadership development, promotion of diversity and inclusion in these roles, and guidance for those who seek such leadership positions.