BACKGROUND The Miller’s Review of Orthopaedics (MRO) and the AAOS Comprehensive Orthopaedic Review (COR) are two commonly used review books for the Orthopaedic In-Training Examination (OITE). However, both resources are quite extensive in terms of book length. The authors recently published a concise OITE review handbook titled High-Yield Orthopaedics (HYO). This study aimed to validate HYO by determining the prevalence of 2018 OITE answers found in the handbook.
METHODS The 2018 OITE questions were categorized into one of three question types by the first author. Taxonomy 1 (T1) questions tested recall or recognition; taxonomy 2 (T2) questions tested interpretation; and taxonomy 3 (T3) questions tested problem-solving. Two authors (HVL and PKC) then independently reviewed HYO to determine if answers to the 2018 OITE questions were available in the handbook. Interobserver reliability was assessed via percent agreement and Cohen’s kappa (κ) coefficient. Discrepancies were resolved after joint review.
RESULTS Of the 270 OITE questions available for review, 97 (35.9%) were classified as T1 questions, 85 (31.5%) as T2 questions, and 88 (32.6%) as T3 questions. The answers to 198 OITE questions (73.3%) were detected in HYO—58 answers to T1 questions (59.8%), 63 answers to T2 questions (74.1%), and 77 answers to T3 questions (87.5%). The concordance between the two reviewers was 258 out of 270 questions (95.6%) with κ coefficient of 0.88.
CONCLUSION Compared to MRO and COR, High-Yield Orthopaedics is a more concise resource that still comprehensively reviews all 11 knowledge domains tested on the OITE. Answers to 198 of the 270 questions (73.3%) on the 2018 OITE were found in the handbook. HYO is a valid and high-yield review material for OITE preparation.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level V Expert Opinion