Project 100 - Undergraduate Musculoskeletal Education

Purpose: Project 100 is the USBJI’s initiative to raise the level of training that all graduating medical students receive in musculoskeletal health. Project 100 aims to bring about fundamental changes in the quality of care of patients with musculoskeletal conditions, a cornerstone goal of the Initiative. The purpose of Project 100 is to have musculoskeletal medicine recognized as an Essential Discipline by all medical schools; and to have the schools promote the inclusion of musculoskeletal medical curriculum with an emphasis equal to that given to other important organ systems.

In other words, to have 100% of American medical schools require that their students meet the learning objectives set forth by the AAMC Medical Schools Objectives Project (which details the knowledge, skills and attitudes all graduating medical students should possess).
 
Outcomes to date:

  1. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has released guidelines to medical schools on the attitudes, skills and knowledge all graduating medical students should possess in musculoskeletal medicine.
  2. A standing NBME Task Force now reviews and develops new questions for the Step 2 examinations to test effective understanding of musculoskeletal conditions
  3. The NBME has developed a musculoskeletal subject examination. Coupled with the AAMC guidelines, this is expected to drive musculoskeletal courses at schools.
  4. 125 medical schools have declared their support of the Initiative.
  5. A survey to compare instruction in medical schools in 2002 and in 2009 shows that in 2002 less than half of medical schools provided instruction or a clerkship in musculoskeletal medicine, while by 2012 more than 80% do so.

Future:
The next step is to improve the educational material available for instruction, to develop a cadre of champions in schools, and to expand the initiative to undergraduate students studying for careers as healthcare professionals in other areas.

The legacy of Project 100, it is hoped, will include not only its specific accomplishments to date and the momentum thereby derived, but also the explicit formation of an enduring organization of musculoskeletal educators.