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Scientific Articles:
Kevin B. Freedman and Joseph Bernstein
Educational Deficiencies in Musculoskeletal Medicine
J Bone Joint Surg Am 2002; 84: 604-608 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]
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[Read Letter to the Editor] Educational Deficiencies in Musculoskeletal Education
Hans Friedrich Baer   (23 May 2002)

Educational Deficiencies in Musculoskeletal Education 23 May 2002
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Hans Friedrich Baer,
Orthopaedic Surgeon Biomedical Engineer
Orthopädische Universitätsklinik Bochum

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Re: Educational Deficiencies in Musculoskeletal Education

hans-friedrich.baer{at}ruhr-uni-bochum.de Hans Friedrich Baer

I would like to express my gratitude to the authors for addressing this difficult subject with methodological skill, and appropriate self criticism.

It is difficult to comprehend that current medical curricula are so deficient in teaching the basic sciences of the musculo-skeletal system and the clinically necessary knowledge about common musculoskeletal diseases that affect such a large majority of the adult population.

It is my impression that in the German speaking orthopaedic community, as in the rest of the medical world, there is a special lack of education in musculoskeletal basic sciences such as functional anatomy, and an inability for our younger medical colleagues to apply orthopedic science to clinical situations.

Clear thinking and decision making in orthopaedics is hard enough to teach to students, but it is impossible to teach these skills without first teaching the basic knowledge in this specialty.