Deconstructing the Joint Examination: A Novel Approach to Teaching Introductory Musculoskeletal Physical Examination Skills for Medical Students

Introduction: Musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders are very common, but suboptimal teaching of MSK medicine occurs and expert clinicians agree that MSK physical examination (PE) skills can be confusing and complicated for medical students. An innovative approach in introductory teaching of MSK PE skills was developed using constructivist theory for second-year medical students. Methods: -test comparisons of self-confidence scores and MSK-specific OSCE station scores between the historical and innovation groups. Results: < 0.001). OSCE scores significantly improved in MSK-specific stations, with medium to large effect size across the different stations. Discussion: We successfully used a framework of deconstruction, repetition, and spaced practice to develop fundamental MSK PE skills in preclerkship medical students. This curriculum structure provides an effective example for teaching introductory MSK PE skills to early medical learners.