Primary care orthopedics and sports medicine in West Virginia

Previous studies at several family practice residency programs in the U.S. have shown that many family practice graduates feel inadequately prepared to offer fracture care or casting. In order to determine if this was a problem in West Virginia, a survey was sent to all family physicians in the state which asked about their type of practice and residency training, if they provided fracture care or casting services, if they offered sports medicine coverage for teams in their communities, attitudes about their own competency in caring for fractures, as well as other personal and demographic data. Our survey confirmed that only 118 family physicians provide fracture care (42%), and that only 91 provide casting services (32%). The surveys also revealed that rural physicians feel obligated to offer this service, despite the fact that they do not perceive themselves to be very competent in this aspect of patient care, and only 43 rural physicians offer sports medicine coverage (44%). As a result of these findings, we propose that a more adequate orthopedic experience be a part of family practice training, and that there should also be increased emphasis on insuring family practice residents have a basic competency in sports medicine.