ArticleSouthern medical journal2026
Can Medical Students Learn the Pediatric Musculoskeletal Examination Independently?
Article in Southern medical journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe objective was to investigate whether medical students can learn a pediatric musculoskeletal examination independently by studying the pediatric Gait, Arms, Legs, and Spine (pGALS) assessment.
methodsFourth-year medical students were surveyed in 2018 regarding confidence and experience with the pediatric musculoskeletal training. Students performed an initial scored musculoskeletal examination on a standardized pediatric patient reporting chronic joint concerns. The total score had a theoretic range from 0 to 42, and scoring was based on the pGALS examination for children presenting with joint pain. Subsequently, students watched training pGALS videos. After this intervention, students completed follow-up physical examinations and surveys.
resultsFourteen graduating medical students participated. Of these students, 12 students planned to enter a pediatric residency. On the initial survey, participants were the least confident in their pediatric musculoskeletal examination skills compared with all other pediatric physical examinations. Before the pGALS training, 21.4% of participants reported being confident or very confident in their pediatric musculoskeletal examination skills, compared with 100% of participants after training (
conclusionsGraduating medical students may not be confident nor proficient at the pediatric musculoskeletal examination. Instruction in the pGALS assessment may be a low-cost and efficient way to improve confidence and proficiency in the pediatric musculoskeletal examination.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.