A Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Course for Orthopedic Surgery Residents

Université de Sherbrooke

Status: Completed

Conditions: Tendon Disorder

Treatments: Other: Ultrasound education curriculum

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04204369

H2017:227 (HS20921)

Details and patient eligibility

About

A group of orthopedic surgery residents underwent a structured online and practical musculoskeletal ultrasound course. Their proficiency on a written and practical exam, as well as frequency and comfort when using was recorded prior to the course, immediately after, and 6 months after the course.

Full description

Musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSK-US) can have many uses for orthopedic surgeons, such as assisting in clinical diagnosis for muscle, tendon and ligament injuries, providing direct guidance for joint injections, or assessing the adequacy of a reduction in the emergency department. However, proficiency in sonography is not a requirement for certification in orthopedic surgery in Canada, and orthopedic trainees are rarely exposed to the subject. This project aims assess the usefulness in clinical education of a newly implemented MSK-US course in an orthopedic surgery program.

An MSK-US course for orthopedic surgery residents has been developed. An online survey covering the level of training of the resident, their prior experience with ultrasound (number of times used by month) and their comfort level with different parts of the examination (numeric analog scale - NAS), was filled by the participants prior to the course. A pre-course written and practical test was also given to the residents. Following the course, the participants were reassessed with the same tests and surveys on the same day as the course, and at 6 months post. Change in frequency of use, comfort level and test scores were assessed using a Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA and post-hoc Wilcoxon tests.

It was expected that residents' frequency of use, comfort level and tests scores would improve following the implementation of the course. The results were expected to be maintained at the 6 months endpoint.

Enrollment: 10 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Be an orthopedic surgery resident
• Training at the University of Manitoba
• Post-graduate year (PGY) one to five

Exclusion criteria

• Residents having less than six months of training left before graduation
• Residents on extended leave (for example: completing graduate studies abroad, parental leave, and sabbatical)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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10 participants in 1 patient group

Teaching arm

Experimental group

Description:

This group received the teaching intervention and was evaluated before and after the intervention. Improvement was compared to their performance prior to the intervention.

Treatment:

Other: Ultrasound education curriculum