Bobette Patterson, chief administrative officer for the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Iowa and vice president of the Academic Orthopaedic Consortium (AOC), has been appointed to lead the AOC Women's Executive Leadership Forum.

"The AOC Women's Executive Leadership Forum will allow for dialogue, education, and mentorship for a key group of professionals who have had similar challenges throughout our careers," Patterson says. "This is extremely exciting and will reach beyond the AOC by also including experts who have achieved career success outside of the musculoskeletal world. I am humbled and energized to help lead these efforts with direction from our female membership."

Research has shown that having access to strong professional networks is critical to navigating career pathways, enhancing learning curves, and improving the performance of individuals and the entities they serve. Women can uniquely benefit from being part of female-led professional networks that are purely comprised of females, especially in traditionally male-dominated occupations.