SIMULATION TRAINING
A cost-effective junior resident training and assessment simulator for ortho surgical skills
Published on
April 15, 2015
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery
Overview
The study aimed to develop and evaluate a cost-effective psychomotor training and assessment tool, the Fundamentals of Orthopaedic Surgery (FORS), designed to enhance the education of junior-level orthopaedic surgery residents. Utilizing materials sourced from a local hardware store, the FORS platform, costing under $350, assessed six key psychomotor skills relevant to surgical practice. Participants included medical students, residents, and attending physicians from three accredited orthopaedic residency programs. Over four weeks, twenty-five medical students underwent longitudinal training, showing significant improvement in four out of six tasks compared to junior residents.
The results indicated that the FORS simulator effectively enhances basic motor skills, demonstrating the potential to elevate junior participants' capabilities to that of senior residents. This tool offers a promising resource for residency education, aligning with patient safety initiatives and addressing current medicolegal trends in surgical training.
Results
Forty-seven medical students, twenty-nine attending physicians, and fifty-eight orthopaedic surgery residents participated in the study. Stratification among medical students, junior residents, and senior residents and/or attending physicians was found in all tasks. The twenty-five medical students who were retained for longitudinal training improved significantly above junior resident level in four of the six tasks.
