Objective: While the musculoskeletal (MSK) physical examination (PE) is an essential part of a patient encounter, we believe it is an underemphasized component of orthopedic residency education and that resident PE skills may be lacking. The purpose of this investigation was to (1) assess the attitudes regarding PE teaching in orthopedic residencies today; (2) develop an MSK objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) to assess the MSK PE knowledge and skills of our orthopedic residents.
Design: Prospective, uncontrolled, observational.
Background: We compared insurance status among three groups of ambulatory patients with an operatively treated fracture of the distal part of the radius or of the ankle, in order to determine if insurance status affected continuity of care. The patients were categorized as having received initial care at our institution, having received initial care elsewhere with an identifiable reason for transfer to a tertiary care center, or having received initial care elsewhere with no identifiable reason for transfer.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 697 patients with an operatively treated distal radial fracture or ankle fracture who had received their definitive treatment at a level-I trauma center.