A Multi-Site Cross-Sectional Evaluation of Musculoskeletal Knowledge and Confidence in Musculoskeletal Medicine Among Recent Medical School Graduates.

Abstract

To examine musculoskeletal (MSK) knowledge among physicians who completed different MSK curricula during their undergraduate medical training. A multisite survey-based investigation was completed across three Canadian medical programs. Physicians who graduated from these programs over a 6-year period were invited to complete a standardized musculoskeletal examination. A total of 327 physicians (15.9% response rate) completed the examination, achieving a mean score of 74.6% (±9.6, range 50 - 100%). Despite high levels of knowledge, the mean self-reported confidence among respondents was only 2.73/5.0 with no significant difference between programs. While physicians in musculoskeletal specialties performed significantly better than other specialties on the examination (P<0.05), the impact of MSK electives during clerkship varied with elective participation resulting in significantly higher knowledge of graduates from only one of the programs (P<0.05). Family physicians who completed their training at two of the programs performed significantly better compared to non-musculoskeletal specialists (P<0.05). Despite the heterogeneity within the musculoskeletal training environment across medical programs in Canada, no significant differences in MSK knowledge were detected among physicians. Despite higher MSK examination scores than previous literature, physicians reported low confidence in managing MSK conditions in the clinical setting.