Sports medicine training in Canadian paediatric residency programs: Are we doing enough?

Abstract

To assess sports medicine teaching in Canadian paediatric residency programs and recent paediatric graduates' comfort level with sports medicine. Recent paediatric graduates were surveyed about the amount of sports medicine training they had received during residency, as well as their comfort level in diagnosing and managing common sports medicine problems. Paediatric residency program directors were surveyed about the sports medicine content in their programs. Survey response rates for recent graduates and program directors were 52.6% and 81.3%, respectively. Of the recent graduates who responded, 84.7% had 5 h or less of formal sports medicine teaching during residency and 94.9% had no formal clinical rotation in sports medicine. The vast majority of respondents (84.2%) were less than comfortable with their musculoskeletal anatomy knowledge; only 15.8% were comfortable. There were no significant differences between general paediatricians and subspecialists in their reported comfort level with diagnosis (P=0.938) and management (P=0.967) of sports injuries. No program provided more than 5 h of formal teaching in sports medicine, and only one program has a core sports medicine rotation. None of the responding program directors felt that new paediatricians are even somewhat prepared to provide adequate medical care for athletes, and 61.5% felt that a curriculum in sports medicine was necessary. Canadian paediatric residents had limited exposure to sports medicine, and many recent graduates were uncomfortable with their skills in sports medicine. Canadian paediatric residency programs should include a curriculum in sports medicine to adequately prepare future paediatricians to care for young athletes.