A Curriculum for the Ideal Orthopaedic Residency

Abstract

The Academic Orthopaedic Society met in April 1994 to discuss manpower issues in orthopaedics. The members developed an approach using the Delphi system to define and obtain consensus on the characteristics of the ideal residency. Six categories of educational attributes were included: General; Clinical Management; Skills and Technical Aspects; Rehabilitation; Basic Science and Research; and Educational Environment. The following year a questionnaire was sent to more than 125 programs in an attempt to have residents and staff anonymously self score their residencies according to the standards defined by the Delphi panels. The results obtained from the 745 responders from 73 programs validate effectively the characteristics of the ideal program and also show the variation among the programs.