ORS Open Door 

2026 Event Details to be Determined 

Applications Open June 30 – August 25, 2025 for the ORS Early Career Outreach Travel Award (ECOTA)

The ORS will award 10 travel grants of $300 each to early career volunteers participating in ORS Open Door 2026 at the ORS Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC.

History of the ORS Open Door Program

The Open Door Program was established by ORS in 2018 as a day long program held in conjunction with the ORS Annual Meeting. It is led by the ORS Advocacy Council, consisting of volunteers identified from the Social Media, Scientific Communications, and Public Outreach committees. In collaboration with a local science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) outreach and educational organization and venue, Open Door engages students and teachers in short career talks from different disciplines (e.g., engineers, biologists, and physicians), a discussion panel featuring ORS members from historically underserved backgrounds in STEM, and a series of hands-on workshops and demonstrations.

To address gender, racial, and ethnic disparities regarding representation within the field of orthopaedics, the Open Door Program in 2023 and 2024 ORS have intentionally structured programming to engage middle- and high-school students (i.e., Grades 6-12) from first-generation and underrepresented minorities (URM) backgrounds. The majority of attendees identified as Hispanic or LatinX, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. In 2023, the ORS also launched the Early Career Outreach Travel Award (ECOTA) to recruit a similarly diverse cohort of Open Door trainee volunteers and ensure equitable access to participation, allowing student participants to meet and connect with scientists whose identity and lived experiences closely align with their own.

  1. Make musculoskeletal research more accessible to the general public/non-scientific audiences
  2. Foster excitement about science and the possibility of pursuing careers in STEM fields
  3. Introducing orthopaedics to middle school students from underrepresented communities as a career choice to consider
  4. Increase the population on scientists, clinicians, and researcher in the field of orthopaedics

2023 Program: 160 students (Grades 6-12). Partnered with Science Teacher Access to Resources at Southwestern (STARS).

2024 Program: 70 students (Grades 6-8). Partnered with California State University (CSU) Long Beach STEM outreach program in collaboration with the Mathematics, Engineering, Science, and Achievement (MESA) organization.

2025 Program: 130 students (Grades 7-8). Partnered with Arizona Association for Middle Level Education (AzAMLE) and Rogers Ranch STEM Academy at the University of Arizona.

The pre and post program survey data revealed that the Open Door program dramatically improved the students’ attitudes towards STEM and musculoskeletal research for nearly all diverse-related, broader societal importance, and career-related questions.

VIEW FULL OPEN DOOR ABSTRACT HERE

Overview of the ORS

The Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ORS is the only international research society focused on orthopaedics and musculoskeletal care. For almost 70 years, the Society’s basic, translational, and scientific research has been used to treat patients with musculoskeletal disorders to ultimately enhance their quality and equity of care.

The ORS has 3,200 members worldwide, including engineers, biologists, clinicians, and students. Its mission is to accelerate musculoskeletal discovery to improve health, achieving a world without musculoskeletal limitations through research, education, community, and advocacy. Society’s core values include – Excellence and Integrity; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI); Innovation and Impact; Respect and Accountability; Connection and Collaboration; and Education and Career Development.

To ignite the DEI strategy, the society developed the following DEI Strategy.

ORS DEI Strategy

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are part of core values of ORS, which include supporting our members, no matter where they live, and ensuring high-quality and equitable care for the patients and communities ORS members serve, no matter where that may be. Our choice to host a meeting in a specific location does not infer support for local laws, policies, or candidates, but instead affirms that we will carry and promote our values and our science wherever we gather

If you are interested in partnering with us, please contact Nikita Halapeti at [email protected].