Conducting orthopaedic practical examination during the Covid-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is expected to stay for a longer time, educational activities including residency training have gradually resumed with the aid of virtual tools. In addition to continuing the residency education during COVID-19, it is also important to conduct their examination so that the graduations of final year residents are not delayed. The conventional exam pattern involved clinical case presentations and required resident interaction with a number of patients. However, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic we conducted a “zero-patient contact virtual practical exit examination” for orthopaedic residents. METHODS: In order to replicate the conventional exam case-scenarios, clinical cases were prepared in a digital presentation format. The candidate used N-95 facemasks and gloves, and adequate social distancing was maintained in the examination area. We also designed a 10- item questionnaire aimed at assessing the quality and satisfaction with the exam pattern. RESULTS: The mean score for overall satisfaction with the virtual pattern was 4.5 (out of 5) in examiner group while it was 4.1 in examinee group. Higher scores were also reported for questions related to safety of the exam, relevance and quality of the virtual cases, etc. The mean total feedback score for the examiner and examinee group was 48 and 43.4 respectively (out of 50). CONCLUSION: Orthopaedic residency end-of-training examinations can be successfully conducted during the COVID pandemic, and we hope our experience will be helpful to other residency programs.