Does Orthopaedic Resident Pelvis Fluoroscopy Knowledge improve with testing with a Novel Pelvis Model and Educational website?

Purpose: We tested whether residents would improve in fluoroscopy knowledge and ability after using an inexpensive novel pelvis model and educational website.

Methods: Twenty-four orthopaedic residents were recruited from three United States residency programs and randomised into two groups with equal numbers of juniors and seniors. The OrthoAcademy group received educational materials from a website ( www.theorthoacademy.com ), whereas the control group did not. Survey scores, radiograph scores, number of fluoroscopic images taken, and overall radiation exposure were compared (1) between control and OrthoAcademy groups and (2) between junior and senior residents.

Results: Both groups had higher radiograph scores at the second round of testing than at the first (P =.004). The OrthoAcademy group had higher post-test than pre-test knowledge survey scores (P =.045), whereas the control group did not (P =.54). However, the OrthoAcademy group did not have higher radiograph scores between tests (P =.15), whereas the control group did (P =.01). Junior residents had higher second-round than first-round radiograph scores (P =.005) and survey scores (P =.006), whereas senior residents did not (P =.24 radiograph scores) (P =.30 survey scores).

Conclusions: Testing residents with this novel pelvis model improved the quality of the fluoroscopic images obtained by the residents, especially juniors. This study highlighted the need for more accessible resources for residents to learn about obtaining these images.