ReviewJB & JS open access
Preclinical Musculoskeletal Curriculum Duration in US Allopathic Medical Schools.
Review in JB & JS open access. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Musculoskeletal (MSK) complaints represent one of the most common reasons for outpatient visits in the United States, yet MSK education within medical school curricula remains variable and often limited. Although institutional factors such as orthopaedic residency affiliation, geographic region, school ranking, and public vs. private status may shape curricular development, their specific influence on MSK instruction is not well understood. This study characterizes the duration and publicly reported features of MSK education across US allopathic medical schools, providing a descriptive overview of the current national landscape. Methods: Curricular data were collected from all US allopathic medical schools when publicly available. Additional data collected were (1) presence of affiliated orthopaedic residency, (2) US News & World Report ranking tier, (3) Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) four-region and nine-region classifications, and (4) institution type (public vs. private). Results: A total of 157 US allopathic medical schools were reviewed. Of these, 78 schools reported an extractable numerical MSK curriculum duration, while 39 schools listed MSK content without providing a discrete curriculum length ("No Length Listed") and 40 did not report MSK curriculum length in an extractable format ("Not Listed"). Among all schools analyzed, 127 had an affiliated orthopaedic surgery residency program with an average duration of 6.2 weeks for those with extractable data and 30 had no orthopaedic residency affiliation with an average duration of 5.5 weeks. MSK curriculum duration data were represented across all US News & World Report ranking tiers and spanned all 4 major US regions as well as all 9 AAMC geographic divisions. Institution type was reported for schools with available data, including both public (mean 5.9 weeks) and private (mean 6.1 weeks) medical schools. Conclusion: Across the institutions reviewed, MSK curriculum duration appeared consistently limited regardless of institutional or regional characteristics. This overall pattern reflects a widespread shortfall in MSK educational exposure and underscores the broader need for clearer expectations and standardized guidance to ensure adequate MSK preparedness among medical students.
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.