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The Residency Review Committee for Orthopaedic Surgery Operative Experience Statistics February 2000 Introduction Although the Residency Review Committee has been gathering information regarding the operative experience of the PGY-5 residents in programs scheduled for accreditation review since 1990, the form of that data collection has not permitted the generation of national statistics. Two years ago, the Committee approved two initiatives that were designed to improve the quality and quantity of operative experience data that will be available to both the RRC and others involved in the education of orthopaedic residents throughout the country. First, the Committee approved the design and development of an internet-based resident operative experience system that will permit ongoing collection and analysis of data from all residents in every orthopaedic residency. Second, as it will be several years before the new database will be large enough to yield meaningful statistics, the Committee agreed that its existing data should be transferred to a simple database so that statistics regarding recent resident activity could be generated. The charts and graphs which follow were derived from two data sets that were created from the operative experience reports (see next page) that were submitted to the RRC by 622 residents between late 1993 and mid-1999. The first was created from the row totals of the reports, which permitted the calculation of statistics regarding resident experience in "regional" and "topical" categories. The second came from the column totals of the reports and permitted the generation of statistics regarding resident experience with adult, pediatric, trauma, and non-trauma orthopaedic patients. As with the interpretation of all statistics, it is important to understand the database that has been analyzed. In this instance, it is important to recognize that: (1) most of the data came from resident logs not hospital records; (2) many procedures fit more than one category, and residents picked the one they preferred; (3) some procedures (e.g., closed reductions that were not performed in the operating room) were not reported; (4) some of the reports were from residents who were in the first few months of their PGY-5 year while others came from residents who had completed the year; and (5) the manner in which residents were instructed to report their procedures varied somewhat from program to program. With these qualifications in mind, the results which follow should be a useful frame of reference for those involved in the education of orthopaedic residents. Operative Experience Statistics: |
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