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Early subspecialization in residency may lead to increased surgical exposure
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According to data published in Orthopedics, residents who chose a career in spine surgery, hand surgery and sports medicine at an early stage in their orthopedic surgery training obtained additional surgical exposure in their chosen field.
“Over the past few decades, the structure of orthopedic surgery training has changed relatively little, while the scope of practice has exploded,” J. Mason DePasse, MD, told Healio.com/Orthopedics. “Increasingly subspecialized orthopedic surgeons are treating a wider range of problems with increased complexity. Our study provides data demonstrating that residents are following suit and seeking opportunities to subspecialize during residency, which may better prepare them for their fellowships and careers. We believe it is time for orthopedic educators to discuss formalizing this process, such as with subspecialty tracks during the chief year.”
Researchers reviewed fellowships and case logs of 231 residents who graduated from five academic orthopedic residency training programs between 2002 and 2017. Investigators then compared the number of cases logged by the residents who chose to pursue a career in spine surgery, hand surgery, sports medicine, total joint arthroplasty, and foot and ankle surgery with the number of cases logged by residents who chose other subspecialties.
Results demonstrated that residents who chose spine surgery, hand surgery and sports medicine compared with their colleagues who did not choose specialties, performed significantly more surgeries in their chosen fields. Investigators noted there was no difference in the number of cases logged by residents who chose total joint arthroplasty and foot and ankle surgery compared with residents who did not choose these subspecialties. – by Monica Jaramillo
Disclosures: DePasse reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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