Background/Purpose: Office orthopedics, and community-based rheumatology overlap in the care of patients with regional pain syndromes. A thorough understanding of these syndromes requires proficiency in clinical anatomy. Previous data indicated a deficient knowledge of clinical anatomy among rheumatologists and rheumatology fellows. In this study, we compared the level of anatomic knowledge between orthopedic and rheumatology trainees and studied the educational impact of a clinical anatomy workshop in both groups of fellows.

Methods: All first-year rheumatology fellows and a convenience sample of first-year orthopedic fellows from Mexico City, all in the 9th month of training, were invited to the workshop. Fourteen of 15 orthopedic fellows and 17 of 20 rheumatology fellows agreed to participate. A pre- and the post- workshop test consisted of 20 questions in which fellows identified or demonstrated relevant anatomical structures in a live human body. These questions, arranged by anatomical regions, were identical in the pre- and post-workshop tests and implemented in 5 stations.

Results: (Table) Overall, the 31 participants showed an increase in correct answers, from a median of 6 (range 1 to 12) of 20 in the pre-workshop test, to a median of 14 (range 7 to 19) in the post-workshop test. Orthopedic fellows scored a median of 7 (range 2-12) and rheumatology fellows 5 (range 1 to 10) in the pre-workshop test. Corresponding scores in the post-workshop test were 15 (10 to 19) and 12 (7 to 18).  Intra-group comparisons showed a statistically significant improvement in both the orthopedic and the rheumatology fellows. Inter-group comparisons, from comparable  scores in the pre-workshop test, favored the orthopedic group in the post-workshop test.

Conclusion: We found baseline knowledge in clinical anatomy to be deficient in both orthopedic and rheumatology fellows in their first year of training. Our clinical anatomy workshop was useful, in the short term, as a teaching instrument for both groups of trainees. There is a need for a better training in clinical anatomy in orthopedic and rheumatology programs.

ϮMann-Whitney U test comparing orthopedic and rheumatology fellows in the pre-workshop and the post-workshop tests

*Wilcoxon signed rank test

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/educational-impact-of-a-clinical-anatomy-workshop-on-1st-year-orthopedic-and-rheumatology-fellows-and-a-comparison-of-scores-between-specialties-in-mexico/