While OITE and Board Exam preparation was historically limited to a few well-known review texts and courses, trainees and surgeons now have a plethora of mobile, digital, and seemingly endless sources for questions, answers, and references for the most commonly tested orthopaedic topics. This article will serve to highlight some of the most popular resources and features:
AAOS eStudy and Resident Center - http://orthoportal.aaos.org/estudy/default.aspx#tab1
The AAOS has created a resident-focused educational portal consisting of four sections: OrthoQuiz, Resident Lecture Series, Resident Ethics, and ResStudy.
1) OrthoQuiz (Free): This collection of 700 resident-level test questions can be used to create a custom "quiz." Each quiz can be organized by category and anatomic area, and the user defines the number of questions. While residents can feel comfortable knowing that the Academy has provided high-level quality questions and images, only answers and references are provided, but without explanations. The fact that no explanations are provided, only referenes, is a significant limitation since many of the questions are challenging and often controversial.
2) Resident Lecture Series (Annual Membership for programs or $99/yr individual): This lecture series focuses on "Practice Management" and includes topics related to revenue, operational efficacy, regulation compliance, and organization development. The series is certainly useful, but not for test preparation.
3) Resident Ethics (Free): Questions about ethics and professionalism are always included in exams. This compilation of clinical scenarios, discussion guides, standards of professionalism, AAOS positions statements, and ethical videos are an extraordinarily detailed and useful compendium of resources that should be reviewed during one's training. Not all resources need to be reviewed for a single exam, however browsing the topics and selecting a few pertinent topics would certainly be helpful.
4) ResStudy (Program Membership): Advertised for residency training programs, this includes 10 special-interest self-assessment examinations amounting to over 1000 questions. Access in only through your residency program.
Orthobullets.com (Free)
http://www.orthobullets.com/
Orthobullets was created in *** and emphasizes orthopaedic education through communal knowledge and contribution. Like a "wiki," all pages and questions are open to discussion and opinion. The site is organized by topic, as well as by Qbank, cases, videos and posts. For topic review, the content is in a distilled, bullet-point format and offers very few primary references for further reading. Thus, topics are meant to serve as a secondary review source or quick-reference after primary education.
However, the site has effectively integrated images and questions directly into the text. These questions are relevant, well-written, and often include images as well as video clips. Answers also include clear explanations of the correct, as well as the incorrect choices, and provide primary references for further reading. Questions can also be viewed directly via the Qbank section as well. The website currently includes nearly 2,000 questions and, interestingly, many of the question references link directly to previous years OITE exams. In addition, when viewing questions from the Qbank, users can quickly "Review a topic" which links directly to the relevant bullet-point section for that question.
Overall, Orthobullets.com offers a comprehensive library of high-quality questions, images, and videos that can serve as a valuable resource to supplement one's primary reading and education. However, users should be cautious of information that may not be peer-reviewed or verified due to the nature of communal contribution.
