Milestone-based outcome oriented training is now an important framework for residency education and program accreditation. Analysing 18 months of Orthopaedic Surgery Patient Care Milestone real-time evaluations via a web platform in a single residency program demonstrated significant variability in the rate of assessment and competency level among Milestones. In 614 evaluations, there was a strong, positive linear relationship between postgraduate year and competency level. Chief residents achieved an average competency level of 4.0, the graduation target, as assessed by faculty in real-time. These data may inform ongoing discussions about potential revisions to the Orthopaedic Surgery Milestones, and highlight one potential model for improving resident feedback.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) now requires the biannual submission of a variety of Milestones by United States residency programs, as part of a move towards competency-based medical training. Our program developed a web-based platform to collect Milestone-based evaluations in real-time, in an effort to improve feedback and facilitate ACGME compliance. After 18 months of use, we assessed how frequently each Milestone is evaluated in real-time, as well as the distribution of competency levels by each Patient Care Milestone and postgraduate year (PGY). These results may inform on relative strengths and weaknesses of a program, or of particular Milestones.

At a single academic orthopaedic residency program with 40 residents in total, the use of a web-based trainee-driven evaluation tool (eMTRCS – electronic Milestone Tracking and Competency System) was initiated in 2014. Residents initiate evaluation in real-time, triggering a digital Milestone-based evaluation by a particular faculty member. De-identified data from January 2014 to December 2015 was abstracted. Descriptive statistics on the distribution of evaluations submissions, type of Milestone, faculty evaluation levels, and resident PGY were calculated. As the data was ordinal with evidence of non-normality, nonparametric tests were utilised to analyse differences in the distribution, and assess correlation between planned outcome variables.

A total of 614 evaluations were included in the analysis, for an average of 38.4 evaluations per Patient Care Milestone. There was a wide variability in the number of evaluations per Milestone, ranging from only four “Diabetic Foot” submissions to 75 submissions on “Hip and Knee Arthritis” (Figure 1). Faculty-scored competency also varied significantly among the Milestones (Figure 2, p = 0.009 by Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test). Higher levels of competency were seen as resident PGY progressed (mean = 2.1, 2.4, 3.1, 3.7, 4.0 for PGY1–5 respectively, p<0.001).

Through 18 months of use and 614 real-time evaluations, a web-based system for assessing Milestone levels showed significant variability in the number of assessments and competency level among the Orthopaedic Surgery Patient Care Milestones. There are multiple possible explanations, ranging from resident and faculty confusion about the Milestones to a lack of clinical volume in specific areas. In contrast to the inter-Milestone variability in assessments and competency levels, the strong stepwise relationship between advancing PGY and increasing levels of competency does provide evidence of validity for Milestone-based evaluations. Graduating residents in this program achieved, on average, the graduation target competency level as assessed by faculty in real-time.

Biological reconstruction techniques after diaphyseal tumour resection have increased in popularity in recent years. High complication and failure rates have been reported with intercalary allografts, with recent studies questioning their role in limb-salvage surgery. We developed a technique in which large segment allografts are augmented with intramedullary cement and fixed using compression plating. The goal of this study was to evaluate the survivorship, complications and functional outcomes of these intercalary reconstructions.

Forty-two patients who had reconstruction with an intercalary allograft following tumour resection between 1989 and 2010 were identified from our prospectively collected database. Allograft survival, local recurrence-free, disease-free and overall survival were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Patient function was assessed using the Musculoskeletal Tumour Society (MSTS) scoring system and the Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS).

The 23 women and 19 men had a mean age of 33 years (14–77). The most common diagnoses were osteosarcoma (n=16) and chondrosarcoma (n=9). There were 9 humerus, 18 femur and 15 tibia reconstructions. At a mean follow-up of 95 months (5–288), 31 patients were alive without disease, 10 were dead of disease and 1 was deceased of other causes. There were 4 local recurrences and 11 patients developed metastatic disease. 5-year local recurrence free survival was 92%, 5-year disease-free survival was 70% and overall survival was 75%. Fourteen of 42 patients (33%) experienced complications: 5 wound healing complications, 4 infections, 2 non-unions, 2 fractures and 1 nerve palsy. Four allografts (9.5%) were revised for complications and 2 (5%) for local recurrence. Mean allograft survival was 85 months (4–288). Mean time to union was 8.2 (3–36) months for the proximal osteotomy site and 8.1 (3–23) months for the distal osteotomy site. The mean score for MSTS 87 was 29.4 (+/− 4.4), MSTS 93 was 83.7 (+/−14.8) and TESS was 81.6 (+/−16.9).

An intercalary allograft augmented with intramedullary cement and compression plate fixation provides a reliable and durable method of reconstruction after tumour resection. Complication rates are comparable to the literature and are associated with high levels of patient function and satisfaction.