In Response to COVID-19: Current Trends in Orthopaedic Surgery Sports Medicine Fellowships.

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to the health care system and education models. The reduction in case volume, transition to remote learning, lack of sports coverage opportunities, and decreased clinical interactions have had an immediate effect on orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship programs.

Purpose/hypothesis

Our purpose was to gauge the response to the pandemic from a sports medicine fellowship education perspective. We hypothesized that (1) the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant change in training programs, (2) in-person surgical skills training and didactic learning would be substituted with virtual learning, and (3) hands-on surgical training and case numbers would decrease and the percentage of fellows graduating with skill levels commensurate with graduation would decrease.

Study design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

In May 2020, a survey was sent to the fellowship directors of all 90 orthopaedic sports medicine fellowships accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; it included questions on program characteristics, educational lectures, and surgical skills. A total of 37 completed surveys (41%) were returned, all of which were deidentified. Responses were compiled and saved on a closed, protected institutional server.

Results

In a majority of responding programs (89%), fellows continued to participate in the operating room. Fellows continued with in-person clinical visits in 65% of programs, while 51% had their fellows participate in telehealth visits. Fellows were "redeployed" to help triage and assist with off-service needs in 21% of programs compared with 65% of resident programs having residents rotate off service. Regarding virtual education, 78% of programs have used or are planning to use platforms offered by medical societies, and 49% have used or are planning to use third-party independent education platforms. Of the 37 programs, 30 reported no in-person lectures or meetings, and there was a sharp decline in the number of programs participating in cadaver laboratories (n = 10; 27%) and industry courses (n = 6; 16%).

Conclusion

Virtual didactic and surgical education and training as well as telehealth will play a larger role in the coming year than in the past. There are effects to fellows' exposure to sports coverage and employment opportunities. The biggest challenge will be how to maintain the element of human interaction and connect with patients and trainees at a time when social distancing is needed to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Department

Description

Provenance

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1177/2325967120987004

Publication Info

Liles, Jordan L, Richard Danilkowicz, Jeffrey R Dugas, Marc Safran, Dean Taylor, Annunziato Ned Amendola, Meredith Herzog, Matthew T Provencher, et al. (2021). In Response to COVID-19: Current Trends in Orthopaedic Surgery Sports Medicine Fellowships. Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine, 9(2). p. 2325967120987004. 10.1177/2325967120987004 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/22458.

This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.

Scholars@Duke

Taylor

Dean Curtis Taylor

Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Dr. Dean Taylor is a Sports Medicine Orthopaedic Surgeon whose practice and research interests include shoulder instability, shoulder arthroscopy, knee ligament injuries, meniscus injuries, knee cartilage injuries, and ACL injuries in adults and children. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and completed his medical training and residency at Duke University. Dr. Taylor went on to be a part of the John Feagin West Point Sports Medicine Fellowship, retired from the United States Army at the rank of Colonel, and returned to Duke in 2006.

Amendola

Annunziato Amendola

Virginia Flowers Baker Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Chief of Sports Medicine

Lau

Brian Chei-Fai Lau

Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Dr. Lau is an orthopaedic surgeon that is dual fellowship trained in sports medicine/shoulder and foot/ankle. His clinical practice focuses on sports injuries of the shoulder, knee, and ankle. He has clinical and translational research projects with an interests in imaging related research. He participates and leads numerous multi-center trials. 


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