Assessment of an Orthopedic Surgery Rotation on Musculoskeletal Competency in Emergency Medicine Residency Training

Patient commonly present with orthopedic injuries in the emergency department. Musculoskeletal education has not historically been emphasized in American medical schools, and the effectiveness of an orthopedic surgery rotation has not been well studied in emergency medicine (EM) training. Competency in musculoskeletal education has been tested previously with a validated instrument, the basic competency exam (BCE), to assess baseline knowledge in primary care and emergency physicians.

Residents from 2 different EM residency training programs will be given the BCE to determine baseline musculoskeletal knowledge prior to their orthopedic surgery rotations. A post-test BCE will be given to the residents from both EM training programs upon completion of their orthopedic surgery rotation and compared.