Abstract

The objective of this study is to describe the current situation regarding the training, working conditions, future plans, fields of interest and satisfaction of orthopaedics and traumatology residents in Turkey. A descriptive survey questionnaire consisting of 24 questions was designed to identify the problems and solution suggestions concerning training of orthopaedic residents. All orthopaedics and traumatology residents who took the 2013 Progress Testing for Speciality in Medicine (UEGS) held by Turkish Orthopaedics and Traumatology Education Council (TOTEK) were surveyed in the class at the end thereof as well as the young orthopaedic surgeons who were reached through the email groups of Turkish Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology – Residents and Young Attendings Council (TOTBID-AGUH). A total of 725 residents and 132 young attendings were surveyed. The most outstanding answers are as follows: 62, 7% of the respondents replied to the question “Is there a training program/Is it being applied” as “yes/yes”. It was found out that 94, 3% of the respondents wanted to be involved in a rotation abroad. The “patient care” was the most common answer, with a ratio of 36, 9%, to the question “Whats the priority of the department you are studying in?”. Regarding work conditions, “many emergency on-calls” was found to be the most important parameter affecting life conditions (p < 0.05). Aiming to identify the challenges that orthopaedics and traumatology residents in Turkey face as regards their training, this survey stands as a pioneering study with a high participation rate. Analysis of survey data highlights the importance of several key factors such as the development of training programs and increasing the time spent with academicians as well as spreading and promotion of log book application.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to present characteristics and publication patterns of studies arise from orthopedic theses obtained from National Thesis Center, database in terms of publication years, study types, topics, level of evidence between 1974 and 2014. Firstly, National Thesis Center database was searched for orthopedics and Traumatology theses. The theses, which their summary or full text were available were included in the study. The topics, study types and quality of study designs were reviewed. Then theses were searched in the PubMed database. Journals of published theses were classified according to category, scope and impact factors of the year 2014. 1508 theses were included into the study. Clinical studies comprised 71, 7% of the theses, while 25, 6% of the theses were non-clinical experimental and 2, 7% of the theses were observational studies. Clinical studies were Level I in 8, 6% (n = 93) and Level II in 5, 8% of the theses (n = 63). A total of 224 theses (14, 9%) were published in the journals indexed in PubMed database from 1974 to 2012. Fifty-two (23, 2%) were published in SCI, 136 theses (60, 7%) were published in SCI-E journals and 36 theses (16%) were published in other Journals indexed in PubMed. The quantity and quality of published theses need to be improved and effective measures should be taken to promote quality of theses. Theses from universities and Training hospitals which did not allow open access, and, incomplete records of the National Thesis Center database were major limitations of this study.