Developing a Novel Scoring System to Objectively Track Orthopaedic Resident Educational Performance and Progression.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Medical Education
• Competency Assessment

Background:

• Standardizing objective assessment of orthopedic resident competence is challenging.
• Existing methods lack consistent evaluation across programs.
• Need for a tool to stratify participation and performance in training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a scoring system to measure orthopedic resident educational activity.
• To assess the system's correlation with training progress and board certification outcomes.
• To stratify resident performance and identify areas for targeted educational intervention.

Main Methods:

• Developed a weighted scoring system (Average Resident Score, ARS) based on logged cases, clinic notes, OITE scores, and scholarly activity.
• Calculated the Resident Effectiveness Score (RES) as a z-score of the ARS.
• Used Spearman correlation to analyze RES relationship with ACGME Milestones and ABOS Part 1 scores.

Main Results:

• The RES did not significantly differ between resident classes or change substantially during individual training.
• Resident Effectiveness Score correlated with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Milestone competency subscores.
• Postgraduate Year 5 (PGY5) Orthopaedic In-Training Examination (OITE) scores and ACGME minimums correlated with passing the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery (ABOS) Part 1 exam, but RES did not.

Conclusions:

• The developed scoring system effectively tracks resident educational activity and progress.
• The Resident Effectiveness Score (RES) can be customized for program-specific goals.
• Monitoring RES may help identify residents needing tailored educational support to achieve competence and board certification.