Musculoskeletal Education for Medical Students

Abstract

Musculoskleletal conditions comprise the second most common reason for physician visits and have the greatest negative impact on health-related quality of life in the industrialized world. Therefore, all medical schools should provide education for their students in these disorders. Physiatrists play a unique role in musculoskeletal care and hence, should play a leading role in medical student education. The Association of Academic Physiatrists formed a task force in 2007 to make recommendations as to how physiatrists could contribute to musculoskeletal education for medical students. This report contains those recommendations.

Pre-internship Nigerian medical graduates lack basic musculoskeletal competency

“…Numerous studies reveal inadequate competency in musculoskeletal medicine within a regular medical school curriculum [3,7,[11][12][13][14][15][16]. However, taking electives in orthopaedic surgery [11] and making it the top residency choice are associated with obtaining good scores on the basic competency examination [16].…”

Musculoskeletal education in US medical schools: lessons from the past and suggestions for the future

“…A substantial amount of musculoskeletal medicine could be added in the fourth year's curricular offerings, tapered to student needs without eliminating anything essential and taking advantage of the clinical expertise derived from third-year clerkships. The Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) has suggested musculoskeletal topics to be covered during core clerkship rotations, as well as guidelines for the development and assessment of 4th year musculoskeletal electives [62]. In many of the studies cited above, improved confidence and performance on assessment tools was strongly correlated with participation in musculoskeletal electives.…”

Impact of a Revised Curriculum Focusing on Clinical Neurology and Musculoskeletal Care on a Required Fourth-Year Medical Student Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clerkship

“…Finally, most primary care providers do not feel comfortable managing patients with chronic, nonmalignant pain [9] and recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines have emphasized the importance of nonopioid treatment for chronic pain [10]. Proposals for integration of PM&R into the four-year medical student curriculum [11, 12] and for a required clerkship in PM&R [4] have been put forth, in part, as ways to address these knowledge deficits among medical students. It has been demonstrated that a required PM&R clerkship can improve students' musculoskeletal physical examination skills [6].…”