Impact Of Accreditation On The Surgical Competence And Training Of Orthopedic And Traumatology Residents: A Comparative Study

Abstract

To check if orthopedic and traumatology residents master surgical skills by the conclusion of their specialization and to see if residents at accredited centers respond differently from those at nonaccredited centers. A group of 131 residents from nine institutions based in Istanbul took part in the survey given during their training in the morning. Apart from gathering their demographic details, level of seniority, knowledge of technical instruments, and academic and practical training, the survey also looked into what types of operations they would be confident in managing after training. There were 46 types of surgery included in the questionnaire, covering trauma, arthroscopy, arthroplasty, spine surgery, pediatric orthopedics, hand surgery, deformity correction, and surgeries for bone and soft tissue tumors. The analysis of the data involved descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc test, and chi-square tests. A result was considered statistically significant if p < 0.05. Fifty-three respondents (40.5%) chose centers with accreditation, while 78 (59.5%) were from those without accreditation. Those who attended accredited institutions showed stronger habits of participating in case presentations, writing workshops, and regional meetings than did participants who did not attend accredited institutions (p < 0.05). Moreover, they gained more value from having textbooks and electronic resources for studying theory (p < 0.05). When looking at the 46 surgical procedures, 17 of them revealed clear differences between the accredited and nonaccredited groups, all being statistically significant (p < 0.05). The study group’s interest in different types of surgery varied (p < 0.05), with employees most interested in trauma, arthroplasty, deformity, and arthroscopy, and least interested in surgeries of the spine and tumors. Training level was strongly associated with the surgical competency assessed by residents (p =0.02). It has been suggested that measures be taken to help orthopedic residents increase their skills in surgery. Accreditation is very important in ensuring all training is done to the same standard and at a higher level. More work must be done to expand the number of approved training centers for orthopedic surgery to achieve uniform standards and excellence.