Orthopedic Resident Intern Foundations: A Cross-Institutional, Month-Long Skills Training Boot Camp for PGY-1 Residents

Objective: Orthopedic residents are tasked with rapidly acquiring clinical and surgical skills, especially during their PGY-1 year. However, resource constraints and other factors frequently cause skills training to fall short of established guidelines. We aimed to design and evaluate a cross-institutional, month-long curriculum aimed at pooling resources to optimize training. Design: The O.R.I.F. (Orthopaedic Resident Intern Foundations) Boot Camp was created to teach foundational residency skills and knowledge through daily didactic and simulation-based training covering 6 domains: orthopedic knowledge, orthopedic skills, nonorthopedic clinical knowledge (e.g. radiology), day-to-day hospital tasks, academic research, and social aspects of medicine. Content was based on ACGME milestones and core competencies. The program ran 8 hours each weekday throughout November 2022 and 2023. Before and after the curriculum, participants were administered a 65-question orthopedic knowledge assessment and self-reported competency surveys. Additionally, graduates from the O.R.I.F. 2022 class and a cohort of peer residents from nonparticipating institutions were administered a follow-up survey 1 year after Boot Camp. Comparative testing was performed using Wilcoxon signed-rank analysis (α = 0.05). Setting: The curriculum was hosted at a Level 1 urban trauma center. Participants: Over the study period 40 residents from the Chicagoland institutions participated in Bootcamp: 25 PGY-1 residents from 5 programs in 2022 and15 residents from 3 programs in 2023. Results: Orthopedic assessment scores increased from 45.7 (SD = 8.3) precurriculum to 60.1 (SD = 7.6) postcurriculum (p < 0.001). Additionally, self-rated competence increased in 5/6 domains—all except the social aspects of medicine. One year after O.R.I.F. 2022, a higher proportion of graduates reporting that skills training provided good or very good preparation for intern year and allowed them to network with peers at other institutions compared to non-Boot Camp residents. Conclusions: The O.R.I.F. Boot Camp improves PGY-1 clinical knowledge and skills in a resource-efficient model while also providing an environment that cultivates cross-institutional camaraderie.