F1-taught orthopaedic teaching programme for students (FOTS).

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Online Learning

Background:

• COVID-19 pandemic caused significant student de-skilling in clinical practice.
• Foundation Year 1 (F1) doctors require teaching experience but lack formal preparation.
• A national orthopaedic teaching program was developed to address these challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance medical students' clinical orthopaedic examination skills.
• To provide F1 doctors with opportunities to develop teaching abilities.
• To assess the effectiveness of an online teaching program.

Main Methods:

• Six weekly online sessions on joint examinations delivered via Zoom.
• Presession and postsession multiple-choice questions (MCQs) assessed knowledge gain.
• Anonymous feedback collected from students and F1 tutors.

Main Results:

• 87.1% of 341 students provided feedback; 86.2% reported de-skilling due to a mean 15-week placement gap.
• Significant improvements observed in student confidence (p<0.001) and MCQ scores (p<0.001).
• 91.6% and 95.3% of students found online teaching increased attendance and preparedness; all F1 tutors reported improved confidence and skills.

Conclusions:

• Online delivery of clinical orthopaedic examinations is effective for enhancing student knowledge and confidence.
• The program successfully provided F1 doctors with valuable teaching experience.
• Findings support the adoption of similar online programs across specialties to benefit all stakeholders.