Musculoskeletal Injections Performed by Family Medicine Residents Participating in a Clinical Sports Medicine Track.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Primary care physicians (PCPs) are front line providers of musculoskeletal (MSK) care and MSK injections. Little is known about the volume of common MSK injections performed by FM residents (FMRs) and those residents participating in a longitudinal clinical sports medicine (SM) track. This study outlines an SM track and demonstrates the MSK procedural experience of SM track residents (SMRs) and traditional FMRs (non-SMRs).

METHODS

We utilized a retrospective study design. We compared billing codes and provider information for common MSK injections for the second (PGY-2) and third (PGY-3) postgraduate years for non-SMRs (n=39) and SMRs (n=7) graduating between 2018-2021. We used the average number of patient encounters for each comparison group (non-SMRs vs SMRs) to determine the percentage of patients receiving an MSK injection in each cohort by PGY status.

RESULTS

Of patients receiving MSK injections across both groups, the most common was the landmark-guided large joint injection (64.23%), and the most frequent site was the knee (47.00%). SMRs performed significantly more MSK injections per patient evaluated compared to non-SMRs while in the SM clinic (PGY-2: 2.706% vs 0.913%, P<.001; PGY-3: 4.276% vs 0.862%, P<.001). No significant differences existed between PGY-2 groups when the influence of the SM clinic was removed, but PGY-3 SMRs performed significantly more injections than PGY-3 non-SMRs (1.225% vs 0.862%, P<.011).

CONCLUSIONS

An SM track in the FM residency is associated with an increased volume of MSK injections among SMRs compared to their graduate year-matched non-SMRs.