Objective Qualifications needed to achieve national leadership positions in hand surgery are poorly defined. This study compares the academic accomplishments, demographics, and training backgrounds of presidents elected to serve the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) and the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS).

Methods The ASSH and AAHS provided names of elected Presidents (1990–2022, n = 64). Curriculum vitae and academic web sites were used to collect demographic, training, bibliometric, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding data of presidents.

Results Presidents were predominately male (95%), Caucasian (90%), and orthopaedic surgery residency-trained (66%). Only 9% were racial minorities (8% Asian, 2% Hispanic, and 0% African American). The average age at appointment was 59 ± 7 years old, which was an average of 23 years from completion of hand surgery fellowship. More presidents received plastic surgery residency training in AAHS than ASSH (50 vs. 19%). The most represented hand surgery fellowships were Mayo Clinic (14%), University of Louisville (11%), and Duke University (9%). Twenty-one presidents participated in a travel fellowship (33%). Thirty presidents served as Department Chair or Division Chief at time of election (47%). The average h-index was 34 ± 18 resulting from 164 ± 160 peer-reviewed manuscripts and was similar between the two organizations. Eleven presidents had NIH grant funding (18%) and there were no differences in procurement or funding totals between the two organizations.

Conclusion Presidents of American hand surgery societies obtain high levels of scholarly activity regardless of training specialty. Women and racial minorities remain underrepresented at the highest levels of leadership.

This study received exemption status based on the policies of the Institutional Review Board.

Article published online:
14 July 2023

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