Latest News

GIRFT pathway to help increase paediatric forearm fracture manipulation in the ED

A pathway supporting clinicians with paediatric forearm fracture manipulation in the ED is on offer from the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme. The pathway has been developed with clinical stakeholders from across orthopaedics, paediatric trauma and orthopaedics, emergency medicine, paediatric emergency medicine, and trauma and outlines best practice at all stages of the patient pathway, from triage and assessment through to discharge and follow-up. It has been co-badged by the British Orthopaedic Association.

Read the full news article at https://gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/pathway-tohelp-increase-paediatric-forearm-fracture-manipulation-in-the-ed/.

UK and Ireland In-Training Examination (UKITE)

www.boa.aThe dates for this year’s UKITE are 9th to 16th December 2023. The UKITE is an online annual assessment that allows trainees of all grades to practice for Part 1 of the FRCS (Tr and Orth) examination, with similar formatted questions based on the UK and Ireland T&O Curriculum. Information on UKITE is available on the BOA website www.boa.ac.uk/ukite.

ORTHOPOD study

ORTHOPOD is a multi-centre collaborative study investigating real-time performance of trauma services, including characteristics and distribution of injuries across the United Kingdom. It emerged out of growing concerns among members within the trauma community that injuries with recommended time-to-surgery windows were being missed and the delivery of trauma care within a nationalised health service was suboptimal.

Running for 10 consecutive weeks, across 90 hospitals, data were gathered from 23,138 trauma cases and 709 weeks’ worth of theatre capacity. From this, two key works were produced.

The first publication defined current UK trauma performance in its generality, highlighting significant variation in delivery of trauma services (operative demand and capacity). The second publication described day-case trauma services or lack thereof. You can read more about the study on the BOA website at www.boa.ac.uk/ORTHOPOD.

Resources to support parenthood in orthopaedics

The BOA has a range of resources to support parenthood in T&O. The two documents – a Statement of Expectations on Pregnancy and Parental Leave in T&O, and a guide to support educational supervisors and trainers – together with wider information and support for expectant surgeons and parents, are available on the BOA website at t www.boa.ac.uk/parenthood.

Please make sure to let colleagues know that this information is available. The BOA believes that T&O should be an inclusive surgical profession that inspires, attracts and retains the best talent. Time out for parents raising a family should not be seen as a barrier to progression for surgeons, and we hope these resources will support all those looking to combine family life and orthopaedics.

Save the Date – Ortho Update 2024 – 6th January 2024

Save the date for the BOA Virtual Ortho Update Course to establish strong foundations for practice and assessment, and prepare for the FRCS exam. The course provides curriculum-driven clinical updates and critical condition assessment opportunities aimed at T&O trainees and SAS surgeons. Further information can be found at www.boa.ac.uk/OrthoUpdate.

A blueprint for T&O mentorship

The Birmingham Orthopaedic Training Programme within Health Education England, West Midlands have set up a successful mentorship scheme for ST3-ST8 trainees, which is being piloted in other areas.

They have presented their approach in how to set up a mentorship scheme for T&O trainees via a screencast, using a 10-point plan. The aim is to provide a framework with useful links and documents to assist others keen to set up such a scheme. You can view them on the BOA website at www.boa.ac.uk/mentorship.

BOA Educational Courses

The BOA runs a wide range of courses under the Education Committee. These courses cater to the educational needs of a wide range of members (and non-members in some cases) at all stages of their careers.

Training Orthopaedic Education Supervisors (TOES)

This course is designed to help members prepare for the new curriculum and learn how to supervise trainees to be the very best they can be. We have one remaining date for the small-group virtual TOES courses in 2023. For more information or to book, please visit www.boa.ac.uk/toes

Training Orthopaedic Trainers (TOTs)

The underlying premise of TOTs is that if T&O trainers understand how people learn and how the T&O curriculum works, by translating that understanding into action, they should be able to improve their teaching. Further information or to book is available at www.boa.ac.uk/tots.