Future orthopedic training, a global watch

Open Access-This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the source is credited. Increased quality of life by combatting pain and restriction of movement is the obvious aim when treating the orthope-dic patient. Global challenges may vary, but they harness the necessity of collaboration in order to maintain the high standard of orthopedic care that patients deserve. This was discussed and presented by a task group at the Beijing Summit of the 2012 Chinese Orthopaedic Association Congress and World Orthopaedic Alliance. Medical knowledge, professionalism , and non-technical as well as technical skills must be secured in orthopedic training. Technical skills include both visuospatial and psychomotor abilities apart from working memory. Advanced visualization and simulation tools with metrics on performance are new educational methods that will strengthen these abilities. Global challenges and systems under pressure The scene varies from easy access to orthopedic surgeons to shortage of them. In India, for example, there are less than 30,000 orthopedic surgeons catering for a population of 1.2 billion—i.e. 1 orthopaedic surgeon per 400,000 people. There is an acute need to increase the number of trained orthopedic surgeons and also to continously upgrade the skills. Further education and training may come under pressure because of financial interests, problematic links to industry, and conflicts with insurances. Conflicts with one's own practice may also exist due to different owners with varying financial models, and deficits in education and skills training. Generation Y Training the future orthopedic surgeon means training people born in generation Y, i.e. between 1982 and 2005. Generation Y is technology savvy and multitasking. Having grown up in the information age, they require new teaching strategies since they are used to large amounts of easily searchable and easily available information. Generation Y prefers flexibility and autonomy, which might create tensions with senior staff educated and trained in a different era. A lecture given no longer means a lecture learned. The vast and diverse amount of information available can result in information overflow. A balance between providing a large amount of information and filtering resources will therefore be essential. Working-hour directives To improve patient safety and the quality of life of doctors, working-hour regulations have been implemented in many parts of the world during the last decade. Patients should not be treated by exhausted doctors, just as …