UC San Diego Health appoints Susan Bukata, MD, as chair of orthopedic surgery
The University of California San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Health announced Susan Bukata, MD, as chair of the department of orthopedic surgery.
As the fourth woman in the United States to lead a health system’s orthopedic surgery department, Bukata previously served as orthopedic surgeon, professor and vice chair of orthopedics clinical operations, physician informaticist lead for musculoskeletal health providers and chief orthopedics liaison to community practice partners at the University of California, Los Angeles Health, according to a press release.
The release noted Bukata holds a patent on technology for protecting and repairing cartilage and musculoskeletal soft tissue and has published numerous research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Bukata was elected to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Leadership Fellows program in 2012, received an American Orthopaedic Association Traveling Fellowship in 2018 and serves on the Orthopaedic Research Society Executive Board of Directors, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Written Examination Field Task Force and Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Education Committee, according to the release.
“While being among the first women to hold such a position is only a small part of why I took this job, it is something I take seriously,” Bukata said in the release. “Only 6% of orthopedic surgeons are women and there are few women in leadership. We live in such a wonderful diverse state in California, and orthopedics is not a particularly diverse specialty. I’m looking forward to attracting and training students, residents, fellows and junior faculty who represent the patients we serve, and as well as engaging with the local community to introduce young girls to careers in musculoskeletal health.”
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