Ponseti Clubfoot Casting: Factors That Affect Trainee Competency (Retrospective Observational Study)

INTRODUCTION: This study investigates how previous simulation training and clinical experience affects trainee performance when manipulating a foot, applying a Ponseti clubfoot cast, and performing an Achilles tenotomy on a clubfoot simulator. METHODS: Sixty-four Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education orthopaedic trainees participated in the 2017 to 2018 Top Gun (TG) skills competition at the International Pediatric Orthopaedic Symposium. Trainees were judged by expert pediatric orthopaedic surgeons on how they manipulated a clubfoot model, applied a cast, and performed a simulated tendoachilles tenotomy (TAT). An analysis was done to correlate the test variables with a contestant's TG Ponseti score. RESULTS: Twenty-one contestants with previous residency training using synthetic clubfoot models scored higher (P = 0.007) than those trainees without training. Trainees who had applied >10 clubfoot casts and who participated in >10 TATs in training also scored higher (P = 0.038 and P = 0.01, respectively). Thirteen contestants who had previously attended an International Pediatric Orthopaedic Symposium meeting and seven contestants who attended a American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery clubfoot workshop scored higher (P = 0.012 and P = 0.017 respectively). DISCUSSION: Clinical and previous simulation experience related to the Ponseti method correlated with improved performance on our Ponseti simulation. Trainees who had previous experience with >10 clubfoot casts and >10 TATs scored higher during TG than less experienced trainees.