Published 8/13/2025
The AAOS Evidence-Based Quality and Value Committee has developed a set of presentations that introduce the core principles of evidence-based medicine in orthopaedics. Designed for residents, fellows, and practicing clinicians, these seven modules explain how orthopaedic research is gathered and applied in clinical decision-making. Topics include how clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and performance measures are created, the role of different study types, and how to build and frame strong clinical questions using the PICO structure (population, intervention, control, outcome).
Originally released in 2014 and refreshed in 2024, the presentations are led by orthopaedic surgeons with hands-on experience in the Academy’s evidence-based programs. The modules are free of charge and, upon completion of a short quiz based on the presentation, provide one CME credit per module. Read on to learn about the range of modules.
Evidence-Based Orthopaedics: An Introduction
This overview explains how clinicians can apply evidence-based medicine to guide patient care. It covers how to effectively search PubMed, understand study quality, and interpret key findings — such as the difference between clinical and statistical significance, test results, meta-analyses, and forest plots. Access the module here.
Evidence-Based Orthopaedics: Evaluation of Therapeutic Studies
Therapeutic studies test treatments to see how they impact disease. This module highlights that although no study is perfect, it’s important to judge whether a study’s limitations affect the usefulness of its conclusions when clinicians are making patient care decisions. Access the module here.
Evidence-Based Orthopaedics: Clinical Practice Guidelines
This module explains how AAOS CPGs help support treatment decisions using the best available evidence. It covers the CPG development process, the use of PICO questions, how evidence is graded, and steps taken to reduce bias. It also touches on the history, impact, and limitations of guidelines in practice. Access the module here.
Developing Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines
This module walks through the nine-step process AAOS uses to create CPGs and the evidence-based recommendations for specific conditions. It explains how literature is reviewed, evidence quality is rated, and bias is minimized throughout the development process. Access the module here.
Clinical Practice Guidelines: Performance Measures
Performance measures (PMs) help track and improve quality of care. This module covers how PMs are developed, why they matter to clinicians, and how to use PICO questions in the process. It also reviews different types of measures, their key parts, and how to interpret Current Procedural Terminology coding recommendations when creating them. Access the module here.
Evidence-Based Orthopaedics: Prognostic Studies
This module shows how prognostic studies help predict the course of a disease and support treatment planning. It includes a case example and explains how to assess and compare the quality of studies that evaluate prognosis. Access the module here.
Evidence-Based Orthopaedics: Diagnostic Studies
Learn how to evaluate diagnostic tests by understanding key concepts such as sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios. Provided case studies help show how these tools are used to assess test performance in real-world situations. Access the module here.
The seven evidence-based medicine modules are available on the Academy Learning Platform and can be accessed at learn.aaos.org.