Michael L. Parks, M.D., clinical director of Orthopedic Surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City, has been honored with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) 2019 Diversity Award.
“I am honored to be recognized by the AAOS,” Dr. Parks said. “In order to provide care for an ever-increasing diverse population, we must understand their needs. The diversity of our faces helps with this understanding and ultimately our ability to provide excellent care for the patients we serve.”
“Dr. Michael Parks has been involved in diversity-related conversations and ideas since the moment I met him,” said Ramon L. Jimenez, M.D., Dr. Parks’ former mentor-turned-colleague. “He has always promoted diversity in a quiet and effective manner. He works tirelessly to point out and decrease disparities in musculoskeletal care.”
Dr. Parks, vice chair for Quality at HSS, also serves on the hospital’s Board of Trustees and is an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Weill Cornell School of Medicine. Dr. Parks serves on the steering committee of the Movement is Life Caucus, which seeks to understand and address disparities in musculoskeletal health care. Dr. Parks is also actively involved with Nth Dimensions, a nonprofit organization that works to increase representation of women and minorities in orthopedic surgery.
Dr. Parks graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Chemistry and went on to earn his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. After completing an internship in general and thoracic surgery, followed by an orthopedic residency at Duke University Medical Center, he continued his training at HSS with a fellowship on the Hip and Knee Service.
Dr. Parks told OTW, “My dad’s inaction in the face of progressive knee osteoarthritis lead to my initial interest in disparities research. I watched his pain increase and mobility decrease yet he refused to consider surgical treatment. After many years, he did eventually relent and lived the remainder of his life pain free with unlimited mobility.”
“In my own care of patients, I also observed many black and Hispanic patients with severe osteoarthritis who also refused to consider joint replacement.”
“In our first study we tried to understand how minority patients went about the process to consider joint replacement. Since then we have sought to further understand other factors including poverty, education and language proficiency and their direct effect on disparities in utilization and outcomes.”
Asked about the Movement is Life organization, Dr. Parks commented to OTW, “This is a cross collaborative advocacy group composed of researchers, faith and community-based participants, physicians, nurses and others who seek to understand and eliminate health care disparities. Our efforts have been focused both research and advocacy.”
“Most recently we have organized community interventions focused on improved health literacy and a movement as a healthy tool. We have also collaborated with economists to develop a shared decision tool designed to help patients understand the economic consequences of the spectrum of treatment of arthritis ranging from inaction, medical management to surgery.”
