Proposed curriculum model for resident education in pediatric orthopaedic surgery

A curriculum developed for pediatric orthopaedic residency training is described. The curriculum is practice based, emphasizing those components thought to be necessary for orthopaedic practice. Highly technical or esoteric topics are deemphasized, because they are not relevant to practice capabilities at the end of residency training. The curriculum is designed to serve as a guide for educational direction in pediatric orthopaedic residency training, and not as a description of competency. Resource materials are being developed to provide the educator with relevant clinical material, objectives, and bibliography. The advantages of a practice based curriculum warrant further development of this model for other orthopaedic subspecialties.