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Final Program


Final Program

135 - Resident Musculoskeletal Education: Targeted learning for differential diagnosis and physical examination

Friday, February 28, 2025
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM MST

    Presenting Author(s)

  • JD

    Jennifer Dens Higano, MD

    Resident Physician
    Mayo Clinic Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
    Rochester, Minnesota, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • SW

    Steve J. Wisniewski, MD

    Assistant Professor of PM&R
    Mayo Clinic
    Rochester, Minnesota, United States

Objectives: Evaluate Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation resident musculoskeletal course coverage of musculoskeletal disorders and physical examination or imaging techniques after division into introductory and advanced levels. 

Design: For the 2023-2024 academic year the PM&R residency progream musculoskeletal didactics course was divided into introductiory (PGY-2) and advanced (PGY-3 and PGY-4 combined) levels. The goal of adding the advanced section was to cover additional material at higher level rather than having a combined repeat course from year-to-year as had happened previously. The course was divided into six sections with each section focusing on a different part of the body (spine, shoulder, knee, hip/pelvis, ankle/foot, hand/elbow). The course lecture materials were independently developed by the course instructors. The lecture materials were reviewed by one reviewer to identify to identify musculoskeletal disorders and physical exam or imaging techniques identified in each session. The review of materials did not include any additional topics that were covered during the in-person lectures.

Results:

The introductory course materials included 77 different musculoskeletal disorders; the advanced course included 135. The introductory course materials addressed 113 physical exam and imaging techniques; the advanced course included 110. There was overlap between the material covered in both courses, with 25 disorders and 37 examination/imaging techniques covered in both the introductory and advanced courses. The advanced course allowed for coverage of 110 additional disorders and 73 examination/imaging techniques.    

Conclusions: Division of the musculoskeletal course into introductory and advanced levels allows for differential learning for junior and senior PM&R residents, both addressing previously-covered and novel disorders and techniques to increase the breadth of musculoskeletal education during residency.