Original articleDoctors Likely to Encounter Children with Musculoskeletal Complaints Have Low Confidence in Their Clinical Skills
Section snippets
Methods
Postgraduate training within the Northern Deanery (a large health care Region in North East England), includes programs for trainees in primary care, pediatrics, accident and emergency, and orthopedics. Attendance is mandatory and within each program, there is a minimum of one session focussed on pMSK medicine delivered by one of the authors (HF/SJ/AM). Over a 2-year period of this rolling program, and with trainees attending on one occasion, attendees were invited to complete an anonymous
Results
The Table shows that most of the respondents (n = 346) were doctors from primary care and general pediatrics, with equal proportions of trainees and experienced clinicians (namely GP principals, GPwSIs, and Consultant Pediatricians). The response rate from each teaching sessions was >65%. Postal questionnaires to consultant pediatricians and experienced GPs gave response rates of 40% and 90%, respectively. Medical schools were reported in 43% returns, with most (84%) respondents qualifying
Discussion
This study documents self-rated confidence in pMSK clinical skills in trainee and experienced doctors and compared with different bodily systems. We have shown that there was widespread low self-rated confidence in pMSK clinical assessment skills among trainees and experienced clinicians in primary care and selected secondary care specialties to whom children with MSK problems are likely to present. This could contribute to the reported delay in access to specialist care for children with
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Cited by (0)
The authors declare no conflict of interest.