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NARRATOR: Coming up on Mayo Clinic Q&A.

KELECHI OKOROHA: And as a minority, I always understood that the fact that my road to becoming a surgeon would be a little bit more difficult than others.

NARRATOR: This summer, Mayo Clinic's Orthopedic Surgery Department and the Nth Dimension Internship Program will introduce two female medical students to the field of orthopedic surgery. This internship offers a unique opportunity for women and minority students to gain valuable firsthand clinical and research experience.

KELECHI OKOROHA: I think it's important to have more women, more people of color, and diversity overall in orthopedic surgery for several reasons. I mean, our population in America is very diverse. And I think our patients deserve an equally diverse group of surgeons who are each equipped naturally with different cultural competencies to help treat them. Additionally, diversity in our surgeons will help decrease some of the inequalities we see in health care and treatment of patients today.

DEBORAH BALZER: Welcome to Mayo Clinic Q&A. I'm Deb Balzer, sitting in for Dr. Halena Gazelka. Of all the medical and surgical subspecialties, orthopedic surgery historically has had the lowest percentage of women and minorities. Mayo Clinic's Orthopedic Surgery Department is working hard to change that. This summer two female medical students are participating in an eight-week clinical and research internship in orthopedic surgery in Rochester, Minnesota.

The program was developed by Nth Dimensions, an organization that seeks to bring more women and minorities into the profession. With me today to discuss is Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon and graduate of Nth Dimension, Dr. Kelechi Okoroha. Thanks for joining us today, Doctor.

Doctor, diversity, equity, and inclusion are recognized as extremely important currently. Could you tell us a little bit about your journey, your story?

KELECHI OKOROHA: Yeah. Thanks for having me, Deb. A little bit more about me-- I'm the son of two Nigerian immigrants who migrated to America for better education opportunities. And so I grew up playing basketball and loving sports. And then as my dreams and aspirations of playing in the NBA faded, I transitioned my love into wanting to become a great surgeon.

DEBORAH BALZER: Were there any obstacles, Doctor, related to your lack of equity in your journey to become a physician and an orthopedic surgeon?

KELECHI OKOROHA: Yeah. Well, I attended two HBCUs for undergraduate and medical school-- Xavier University of Louisiana and Howard Medical School. So I was always aware of the differences in rates of minorities becoming physicians and surgeons.

And as a minority, I always understood that the fact that my road to becoming a surgeon would be a little bit more difficult than others, even more so because I didn't attend any Ivy League schools. But I think I was prepared for that.

DEBORAH BALZER: Doctor, why is it important to have more women and people of color and diversity overall in orthopedic surgery?

KELECHI OKOROHA: Yeah. So I think it's important to have more women, more people of color, and diversity overall in orthopedic surgery for several reasons. I mean, our population in America is very diverse. And I think our patients deserve an equally diverse group of surgeons who are each equipped naturally with different cultural competencies to help treat them. Additionally, diversity in our surgeons will help decrease some of the inequalities you see in health care and treatment of patients today.

DEBORAH BALZER: Tell us more about what is Nth Dimensions? Can you explain what it is?

KELECHI OKOROHA: So Nth Dimensions is an organization that was founded by orthopedic surgeons with the goal of eliminating health care disparities for all communities. The program was initially founded in the field of orthopedics, but has now expanded to other fields, such as dermatology. And so one of the major programs is a summer internship, which pairs underrepresented minorities with establish orthopedic surgeons over a summer of mentoring, research, and professional development.

DEBORAH BALZER: Well, what is its connection to Mayo Clinic orthopedics? How does that work?

KELECHI OKOROHA: Yeah. I guess you can say I was the connection for the program in Mayo Clinic. As a former Nth Dimension scholar myself, I really remembered how beneficial the program was and all the relationships I was able to gain. And so, therefore, I proposed that we implement it here at Mayo Clinic when I started.

DEBORAH BALZER: I'd love to hear a little bit more about your connections and your relationship. Tell me a little bit more about that when you were a part of that program at Nth Dimensions. You had mentioned that you were the connection. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

KELECHI OKOROHA: Yeah. So the summer in between my first year and my second year of medical school at Howard University I applied for the Nth Dimension program, as I was interested in orthopedics. And so I was paired with another minority surgeon at Providence, and he really exposed me to orthopedic surgery.

I got to see surgeries. I was involved in research projects, and I just developed a vast connection of other surgeons who were all helping me obtain my goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. And so I thought that was really beneficial and something that I really treasured as a medical student.

DEBORAH BALZER: How does an effort like this program in this internship fit into, do you think, Mayo Clinic's overall goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion?

KELECHI OKOROHA: Yeah. So I think it fits in great, as Mayo has made a real commitment to increase diversity in institution. I mean, to my knowledge, I'm the first African-American orthopedic consultant at the institution. So that, in itself, is a huge step.

And then also, our diversity chair, Dr. Barlow, is a huge diversity advocate and has already made great strides to increase diversity institution before I arrived. And so he was right on board with the idea of Nth Dimensions and tried to push it through as quickly as possible.

DEBORAH BALZER: You're an alumnus and now a mentor of this Nth degree-- Nth Dimensions program. How does that experience as a participant influence your role as a mentor? How does that feel? How does that influence you?

KELECHI OKOROHA: Right. So I think I have the unique experience to being on both sides of the coin. And so now I'm really able to give back and pass down all that knowledge and guidance I was given in order to help others become successful.

DEBORAH BALZER: So speaking of others, let's talk about what your mentees will be doing. So they'll be here for eight weeks. What will they get to see, do here? What will their experience be like?

KELECHI OKOROHA: So our mentees will get a great exposure to all aspects of orthopedics here. They'll gain clinical knowledge by being able to see patients in the clinic. They'll gain operative experience by able to shadow surgeries. They'll gain research experience, as they'll be the lead on the research paper, as well as other educational opportunities through conferences and clinical labs.

DEBORAH BALZER: What do you hope your mentees will take away from this experience, Doctor?

KELECHI OKOROHA: So ultimately, I think we hope that this experience will reinforce our mentees' desires to become orthopedic surgeons. We also hope that they'll gain valuable knowledge and connections here, while ultimately building their CV to become more competitive.

DEBORAH BALZER: Where would you like to see this program go next? I mean, you were among the first here at Mayo Clinic. Where would you like to see this grow, this program?

KELECHI OKOROHA: Yeah. So I think we want this program to grow in the fact that we start taking more influential scholars each year. And our overall goal is to increase diversity in institutions. So what that looks like is recruiting more residents. And then ultimately, recruiting more staff. And so we mimic our population as a whole.

DEBORAH BALZER: What would you recommend, Doctor, to people who are struggling to get an education due to diversity barriers? So what would you recommend to those?

KELECHI OKOROHA: Yeah, it's tough and it can be difficult. But I recommend never giving up. We know as minorities the path to becoming a physician is more difficult. And hopefully, that changes here in the near future.

But as the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way. And so I think you have to find different methods to obtain the goals, and seek out people who may have been in similar situations as you and who are willing to help.

DEBORAH BALZER: Doctor, thank you for taking time. Congratulations to you. Looking forward to hearing about how your mentees do. Good luck on the program. And please, won't you tell us your name and what you do here at Mayo Clinic.

KELECHI OKOROHA: So my name is Kelechi Okoroha. I'm a new orthopedic sports medicine consultant at the Mayo Clinic. I specialize in all sports medicine surgeries, hip arthroscopy, and shoulder arthroplasty. And I'm also one of the team physicians for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

DEBORAH BALZER: And are you-- what facility? Are you at the Mayo Clinic Minnesota-- downtown Minnesota facility, Doctor?

KELECHI OKOROHA: Yes. So I see patients at Mayo Clinic Square in Minneapolis, but I also operate in Rochester.

DEBORAH BALZER: Very good. Thank you, Doctor, for taking time from your busy day to talk with us about diversity, inclusion, and the program of Nth Dimensions. Good luck to you, and thanks so much for your time today.

Our thanks today to Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Kelechi Okoroha. Thank you, and thanks for listening.

NARRATOR: Mayo Clinic Q&A is a production of the Mayo Clinic News Network and is available wherever you get and subscribe to your favorite podcasts. To see a list of all Mayo Clinic podcasts visit newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org, then click on Podcasts. Thanks for listening, and be well. We hope you'll offer a review of this and other episodes when the option is available. Comments and questions can also be sent to mayoclinicnewsnetwork@mayo.edu.

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