The effect of simulated pin placement practice on in-theatre performance by orthopaedic trainees

The BoneDoc simulator is an augmented reality surgical simulator composed of a tangible silicone/3D printed bone arm, and an iPad C-arm simulator. Participants are able to use the simulator to practice pinning of paediatric supracondylar humeral fractures. The simulator will be first administered at the November training weekends for each intervention cohort of orthopaedic trainees. We will use these training weekends to test participants at baseline on the simulator and collect demographic data. The simulator will be setup as one of the 15-minute assessment stations in the training weekend. Simulator sets will be distributed to individual trainees at this point following consent. It is then expected that trainees will undertake at minimum, monthly 15-minute practices on the simulator for the next six months of training. Note that the simulator training will be in addition to any routine training they will be receiving at their respective hospitals. Their simulator performance will be assessed again in a controlled environment at the March training weekend to establish learning effects on pin accuracy and number of X-ray images taken. Simulator intervention is entirely self-administered and self-regulated. There is no maximum number of times the trainee can practice using the simulator. Adherence will be assessed at the end of follow-up.