"Owning Your Niche": A Trauma Surgeon's Guide to Personal Branding

Accreditation Statement: The Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit Designation:  OTA designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery’s Maintenance of Certification program. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABOS credit.

MOC Claim Credit Deadline: 7/28/2030

Learning Objectives:

After completing this activity, learners will be able to:

1. Identify the intersection of personal interests, clinical or research skills, and unmet needs that can form the basis of a professional niche.  

2. Compare at least three distinct pathways to niche development in orthopaedic trauma surgery, including educational content creation, procedural course and workgroup leadership, and academic mentorship-based branding.  

3. Apply practical strategies for using digital platforms, educational content, and organizational involvement intentionally to build and sustain professional visibility.  

Faculty:

• Moderator: Lisa Cannada, MD

Original release date: 7/28/2027

Expiration date: 7/28/2030

Estimated time to complete activity: 1 hour

Statement of Need/Description/or Summary of Gap Analysis:

Many orthopaedic trauma surgeons, particularly those early in practice, lack a clearly defined professional niche and the visibility strategy needed to translate interests into recognized expertise. Surgeons frequently focus exclusively on operative skill acquisition without recognizing that career advancement, leadership and collaborative opportunities depend on how their work is perceived externally. This gap is especially pronounced for women and early-career surgeons, who often have fewer existing platforms or sponsors to amplify their contributions. Without intentional branding strategies, surgeons risk being overlooked for committee appointments, speaking invitations, and research collaborations despite possessing expertise and a genuine interest and area of focus.

Surgeons need practical  strategies for identifying a personal niche, and making their clinical or research interests into a consistent professional identity, and using various platforms to build visibility. This includes guidance on aligning online presence with professional expertise, selective and deliberate use of  educational  and available platforms to establish topic-specific recognition, and developing workgroups or educational opportunities as a vehicle for niche-based recognition. The audience will have  concrete, varied examples illustrating how different forms of niche development (clinical focus areas, educational content creation, and procedural or subspecialty expertise) can each generate recognition and opportunity, since one model does not fit all.

Method of Participation: There are no fees for members to participate in this activity. Non-members must pay $40. To participate in the activity, physicians will be required to take the following steps:

• Read the learning objectives and faculty disclosures.
• Participate in the activity.
• Complete the activity evaluation.
• Participants who successfully complete the evaluation will receive AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

Disclosures:

The Orthopaedic Trauma Association has implemented a policy to comply with the current Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education requiring mitigation of all conflicts of interest. Faculty declaring a relevant commercial interest must be identified in the activity syllabus and/or program.

In accordance with disclosure policies of OTA and the ACCME, every effort has been made to ensure all CME activities are balanced, independent, objective, and scientifically rigorous. These policies include complying with ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education and mitigating all relevant conflicts of interest for all individuals in control of content.  

All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated

Disclosures are available on the "Disclosure" tab.

Disclaimer: The information in this educational activity is provided for general medical education purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the independent medical judgment of a physician relative to diagnostic and treatment options of a specific patient's medical condition. The viewpoints expressed in this CME activity are those of the authors/faculty. They do not represent an endorsement by the OTA.  In no event will the OTA be liable for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon the information provided through this CME activity.