CME expires October 31, 2027

Sharpen Your Skills for Recertification Success

Recert Ready helps you prepare for the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Web-based Longitudinal Assessment (ABOS WLA) recertification pathway by providing a refresher on the key elements of evidence-based medicine and the critical evaluation of research articles in the context of orthopaedic surgery.

The core component of the ABOS WLA recertification pathway involves selecting and engaging with preselected Knowledge Sources—comprising journal articles, practice guidelines, and other scholarly documents relevant to orthopaedic surgery. To support your preparation, in this course you will review the various types of medical research studies, including therapeutic studies, diagnostic accuracy research, prognostic studies, and systematic reviews, and learn a step-by-step approach for critical appraisal of each type. Along the way you will learn about the importance of study design, methodology, statistical analysis, and reporting of results. By the end of this course, you will have a better understanding of the critical evaluation skills necessary for making informed decisions about patient care based on the best available evidence.

In addition to the core content, you will have access to detailed Study Guides and full-text downloads for all 2024 Knowledge Sources from the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, a glossary of key terms, and links to Critical Appraisal Worksheets from the Center for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford.

Editors 
Martin Joseph Herman, MD, FAAOS 
Dustin Adam Greenhill, MD, FAAOS

Learning Objectives

• Interpret basic concepts and methodologies of evidence-based medicine (EBM) relevant to orthopaedic practice.
• Identify different types of orthopaedic research studies, including diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic, and their respective roles in clinical decision-making.
• Assess the validity and reliability of research findings by analyzing study design, methodology, and statistical reporting.
• Apply systematic approaches for critically appraising diagnostic studies, focusing on their accuracy, precision, and applicability to patient care.
• Evaluate prognostic studies to predict patient outcomes effectively, understanding the impact of various prognostic factors.
• Critically review therapeutic research to determine the efficacy and safety of treatments based on well-conducted randomized controlled trials.
• Learn a systematic approach for critically evaluating systematic reviews to understand their conclusions and relevance to clinical practice.
• Implement evidence from critical appraisals in clinical practice to improve patient outcomes and inform future research directions.

Earn up to 15 AMA PRA Category 1 CME credits™.