As a retired orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Mason is the wearer of many hats, including that of nationally recognized speaker, master mentor, physician advocate, coach, educator, entrepreneur, wife and mom.

In 2004, Dr. Bonnie Mason founded Nth Dimensions, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, to increase gender, racial and ethnic diversity in the field of orthopaedic surgery. Since then, Nth Dimensions has created a longitudinal Physician Pipeline Initiatives Curriculum to develop the next generation of diverse leaders, scholars and physicians. With a mission to increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities in specialty fields of medicine, Nth Dimensions, a physician founded, non-profit organization, educates medical students about specialty choices such as Orthopaedics, Radiology and Physical Therapy through early exposure, immersion and ongoing mentoring.

Since its inception in 2004, Nth Dimensions has exposed more than 5000 medical students from 80 US medical schools to the field of orthopaedic surgery in association with more than 100 volunteer surgeons, powered by de novo corporate relationships and industry support from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery, the American College of Radiology, the American Academy of Dermatology and Zimmer Biomet. Surgery. With an 83% average annual match rate of Nth Dimensions Scholars in orthopaedic surgery residency programs, 30% are women and 90% are underrepresented minorities. In 2019, 19 out of 21 Nth OSI scholars matched in orthopaedics, a 90% match rate, which supersedes the 76% national match rate in orthopaedic surgery.

Dr. Mason’s experience as a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon and physician administrator of a private practice led her to develop, in partnership with fellow physicians, a comprehensive business of medicine and financial curriculum for young physicians, Beyond the Exam Room (BTER). Through BeyondtheExamRoom.co®, Dr. Mason delivers this live curriculum to future and practicing physicians nationwide with the support of experienced physician and expert faculty. The BTER curriculum has since been converted to online master courses and individual coaching opportunities, which resulted in BTER physicians negotiating more than $5 million dollars in additional revenue and compensation.

Dr. Mason holds faculty appointments in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Texas, Medical Branch in Galveston and as an adjunct Associate Professor of Graduate Medical Education at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. She has published book chapters, numerous peer-reviewed articles, and facilitates hundreds of presentations and publications for her students annually. Dr. Mason’s professional endeavors include national committee and board positions within the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (AAOS). Most recently, Dr. Mason was nationally recognized by the AAOS with the prestigious Diversity Award in 2015.

Forced into early retirement from medicine due to a diagnosis of RA at 29 years of age. Thereby her favorite quote by Leonardo da Vinci is, “Obstacles cannot crush me. He who is fixed on a star does not change his mind.” Her mission is to:

~ lead by example on how to navigate change, especially unexpected change

~ fill voids with tangible and practical innovations in education and action

~ motivate others to do things differently, as a master of adaptability

For her work, Dr. Mason has been featured in Black Enterprise, Becker’s Spine, Entrepreneurs Podcast Network, BlackDoctor.org, Docs Outside the Box and The Network Journal and was also featured on ABC-TV Chicago. In addition, she has received numerous awards and recognition, from the J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society’s Mentoring Award

and a Nominated Change-Maker, White House Women of Change both in 2017 to being asked to serve on the ACGME’s first Diversity and Inclusion Task Force in 2018.

For the past 18 years, Dr. Mason has spent more than10,000 hours annually coaching and mentoring physicians at every level, which inevitably cuts into time with her hubby, Dr. Thomas Mason, Chief Medical Officer of the Office of the National Coordinator, and her two sons, who are future leaders are affectionately known as the “Bear Cubs.” She is thankful for the ongoing support, patience and mission alignment from them, as well as her entire family, her irreplaceable network of friends and her divine work family at Nth Dimensions and Beyond the Exam Room.