Dear Drs. Conway, Dodds, & Baraga

The proposed return of Dr. Stricker to our residency program has sparked extensive discussion amongst the residents. These discussions have led us to a unanimous and definitive conclusion: we believe such a return would ultimately be detrimental to the educational experience, the culture and the tolerance of misconduct within our residency program.

We have testified to our dissatisfaction of Dr. Stricker’s performance via multiple Pulse Surveys and phone surveys conducted by the Jackson Labor Relation Department over the past year. While this is not the time to enumerate them in detail, the general conclusion of these testimonies is that Dr. Stricker has created an educational environment best characterized as malignant, chauvinistic, inappropriate, and devoid of happiness. Upon receipt of these reports, the immediate response of the Jackson Labor Relation Department was to remove Dr. Stricker from all interaction with residents--an action we applauded at the time. But it is now apparent that their actions were only temporary and they now plan on reinstating Dr. Stricker to his previous post as a resident “educator.” Let us be clear--we are not complaining of transient or flippant indiscretions made by Dr. Stricker but, rather, his long standing, intentional, and harmful patterns of behavior perpetrated against many generations of orthopedic residents. Returning him to a position as “educator” only serves to maintain the status quo, perpetuate injustice, and blatantly disregard the wishes of our unified orthopedic residency.

The chance to conduct all of our pediatric orthopedic education at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital (NCH) is an amazing opportunity that we all welcome gladly. The PGY-2 and PGY-4 Pediatric Orthopedics rotations at JMH have historically been non-surgical rotations due to the decreased patient volume and Dr. Stricker’s preference for non-operative care. Contrast this with NCH where we work alongside 6 faculty members, all with unique sub-specialty interests, who share an enthusiasm for resident education and each maintain a large practice volume that easily accommodates the Jackson PGY-2/4/5 residents simultaneously. Nicklaus is a huge asset to our program and we should take full advantage of it.

We therefore formally request to permanently change the Pediatric Orthopaedic PGY-4 rotation to full-time appointment at NCH. While Jackson may have deemed Dr. Stricker’s past offenses and treatment of residents inadequate for termination, we believe our program should not sit idly by and allow them to continue when the alternative for us is far superior from all relevant perspectives. At a time when the department is undergoing changes with the start of our new chairman, our program is at a crossroads and we believe it is paramount to advocate for the appropriate direction for our program’s future. Dr. Stricker has consistently demonstrated this pattern of malignant and inappropriate behavior over a long period of time to a multitude of residents. The extent of his indiscretions, in our collective opinion, renders him undeserving and unfit to work with residents permanently. We feel that inaction from our department regarding this issue would set a dangerous and disappointing precedent, one that biases status quo and conflict-avoidance over the promotion of justice, education, and a healthy working environment.

We look forward to further discussion and welcome the opportunity to involve Dr. St. Onge and graduate medical education, CIR, and Jackson Labor Relations to ensure that our collective and firm opinion is appropriately vocalized

Signed in unanimous agreement,

The JMH Orthopaedic Surgery Residents