Programmatic design for teaching the introductory skills and concepts of lumbar spine procedures to physiatry...

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a 2-day course teaching the introductory skills and concepts of lumbar spine procedures to physiatry residents.

This is a 3-yr prospective study of a 2-day musculoskeletal course teaching the introductory skills and concepts of lumbar spinal procedures to the residents at a large academic physical medicine and rehabilitation program. The residents attending the course took multiple-choice pretests and posttests as well as participated in a procedural skills competency demonstration.

Forty-two residents participated. The results were stratified according to the level of training and repetition of the material and revealed gains of medical knowledge at each level of residency training (P < 0.001). The postgraduate year 2 residents seemed to have the greatest overall improvement (P = 0.04). Half of the residents scored lower than 65% on the pretest, and these residents ultimately had the largest posttest gains. Forty (95.2%) residents achieved a grade of pass in the skills-based test. The residents felt that the course was valuable or extremely valuable.

The comprehensive 2-day course teaching the skills and concepts of spinal interventions for physiatry residents enhances medical knowledge as an introduction to interventional spine care. Those who benefited the most were the residents who had the greatest deficit of medical knowledge on this topic before the course. This course curriculum does not replace fellowship training or closely monitored mentorship in the performance of spinal procedures.