Dr. Bonnie Simpson Mason has dedicated her career to advocating, educating, and empowering her fellow physicians nationwide. Empowering physicians with the requisite information, tools, and resources to become leaders who practice in safe and equitable learning environments and to build fulfilled lives for themselves, their families and their patients comprise Dr. Mason’s personal mission.
Dr. Mason joined the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) as Vice President, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in 2020. Dr. Mason is responsible for supporting efforts to address harassment, discrimination, and other forms of mistreatment in the graduate medical education (GME) learning environment. During her time there, Dr. Mason primarily lead the design, development and implementation of the ACGME’s Equity Matters, a 10-year continuous learning and process-improvement initiative in DEI and Antiracism that actively engaged over 1000 members GME community and specialty associations in education, peer-advising and solutions development with the goal definitively addressing disparities, racism and achieving health equity in their respective environments.
As of January 2022 , Dr. Mason joined the American College Surgeons as the inaugural Medical Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Mason will champion the importance and value of a diverse and inclusive environment and support the development of a vision and effective strategy to create a culture for DEI and ensure compliance with applicable laws. Her work will involve actively engaging leadership, members, volunteers, and staff to further behaviors, attitudes, and policies that support DEI. She is collaborating with ACS stakeholders to assess potential barriers, identify opportunities, and develop innovative strategies to recruit and retain a diverse workforce and membership.
As a nationally recognized speaker and champion for recruiting and retaining a diverse physician workforce as students, trainees, faculty and leaders, Dr. Mason holds adjunct faculty appointments in GME and in orthopaedic surgery. She has received several awards from her peers, specialty society and physician associations nationwide including the AAOS’ Diversity Award in 2015. For over 20 years, Dr. Mason has spent over 10,000 hours annually coaching and mentoring physicians. ians.
Selected publications from PubMed
Rural Surgery Equity Issues: Overview and Perspectives on Surgical Equity From the American College of Surgeons.
Reetz SR, Simpson Mason B, Al-Refaie WB
World J Surg. 2025 Aug;49(8):2066-2067 doi: 10.1002/wjs.12691.
A rural surgical research framework to improve equitable access, quality, and outcomes through the social determinants of health.
Timperley J, Schmalz N, Guinn K, Reetz S, Simpson-Mason B, Al-Refaie W
Am J Surg. 2025 May;243:116150 doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.116150.
Blue Ribbon Committee II: Reports of the Subcommittees on the Optimization of Surgical Education and Training in the US Work-Life Integration, Resilience, and Wellness.
Conrad-Schnetz K, Prabhu A, Johnson WR, Jenkins-Turner M, Simpson-Mason B, Terhune K
Ann Surg. 2025 Jan 1;281(1):11-15 doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006499.
An Organizational Approach to Addressing Racism in Orthopaedic Surgery: AOA Critical Issues Symposium.
Brooks JT, Dixon T, Simpson Mason B, Archdeacon M
J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2022 Oct 19;104(20):e88 doi: 10.2106/JBJS.21.01417.
In the modern healthcare environment, the scope of surgical responsibility extends well beyond technical expertise: it encompasses the ethical, professional and interpersonal obligations that surgeons hold toward their patients, colleagues and society. This event aims to explore these multifaceted dimensions, examining how responsibility in surgery influences not only clinical outcomes but also the broader healthcare landscape.
With American College of Surgeons
Published
Nov 2024
Welcome to the AIS Awards 2023! The event acknowledges the collective efforts of residents, surgeons, healthcare professionals, and the AIS Team in democratizing medical training through online content. With 11 awards across four categories and 45 nominees, the ceremony reflects the remarkable achievements of the AIS Community. Awards are based on real AIS Channel metrics, with two categories determined by audience votes. While celebrating winners, we also recognize the dedication of outstanding surgeons not nominated today. The prizes to be distributed will be as follows: Emerging KOLs Category Most Listened Podcast Most Viewed SOC Most Viewed ACW More Events Held KOL Category More Events Held Most Viewed OOO Live Webinar Category Most Viewed Live Surgery Greatest Social Impact Special Awards Category Best Academic Initiative Congress of the year Surgical Event of the year The virtual gathering provides a unique opportunity for professionals to connect, making the ceremony unforgettable. Join us in honoring the AIS Community's achievements this 2023!
Published
Dec 2023
The finale 2024 monthly diversity, equity, and inclusion program features global healthcare leaders addressing this year's theme of patient-centric DEI initiatives. These internationally renowned experts from North and South America, Africa, and Asia describe programs which they have created to ensure access to equitable care for all patients. Their perspectives include University, Society, Hospital, Organizational, and Corporate initiatives which they have introduced and developed. The esteemed DEI champion faculty will outline how others in a myriad of environments can create and sustain similar programs. Participants from around the world will derive significant immediately implementable solutions which they can lead to help optimize outcomes for patients around the world.
With AORN
Published
Dec 2023
In the second part of our series on healthcare disparities and health equity, we continue on the trajectory of the previous installment, now focusing on the imperative of addressing disparities in health and healthcare. Beyond considerations of social justice and equity, these disparities have far-reaching effects on global overall health and economic prosperity. People of color and other underserved groups endure higher rates of illness and mortality across various health conditions, impacting the collective wellbeing of our society. Throughout this series, we aim to explore targeted solutions that dismantle these inequalities and strive towards achieving health equity among surgical patients.
With American College of Surgeons
Published
Aug 2023
Despite significant improvements in trauma care over the past few decades, inequities persist which prevent all patients from achieving the best possible outcomes. In this program sponsored by the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT), we will explore the history and current state of disparities and inequities by race and ethnicity in the United States, the challenges in optimizing outcomes among older adults, international variation in both injury burden and post-injury outcomes, and the role of intersectionality in understanding and addressing health inequities. We will then discuss the role of addressing social determinants of health in optimizing outcomes and reducing inequities among trauma survivors. We will also discuss best practices in researching both inequities in trauma care as well as interventions to mitigate disparities. Finally, we will explore policy interventions that improve health insurance coverage, reduce financial toxicity, and address unmet social health needs in order to achieve more equitable outcomes.
With Johnson & Johnson MedTech
Published
Apr 2023
This program is the finale of the 2022 monthly series of diversity, equity, and inclusion sessions. This broadcast includes healthcare leaders from North and South America and Africa who will present their successful practical strategies for ensuring implementation and maintenance of organizational and institutional DEI integration. The experiences of these leaders from renowned health care organizations around the world will include a robust discussion of specifics which can be brought to every group. The wisdom of this esteemed faculty will be an information-packed episode with lively international interaction among the faculty and the worldwide audience.
With Cleveland Clinic
Published
Dec 2022
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