A Musculoskeletal Medicine Clerkship for Medical Students

Abstract

Musculoskeletal complaints represent one of the most common reasons people seek medical care—perhaps more than any other—yet the amount of time devoted to musculoskeletal topics in medical school is not commensurate to the burden of disease. It is therefore not unreasonable for departments of orthopaedic surgery to take their own initiative and create course offerings that will fill the gap. There are a few options for new courses in orthopaedic surgery: a traditional fourth-year elective is orthopaedic surgery; a selective option as part of the surgery clerkship; or a free-standing required clerkship in musculoskeletal medicine/orthopaedic surgery. We describe here our experience with a 1-week required clerkship for all students. Our aim is to identify some general principles and helpful suggestions that will allow a school to build its own coherent self-contained course.