Technology-Enhanced Simulation and 3D-Enabled Learning in Orthopaedic Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Practical Priorities

Abstract

Orthopaedic simulation is often discussed as a choice between a screen, a printed model and a virtual-reality system. That choice comes later. A teaching session first needs a clinical task, such as selecting cup landmarks, explaining an acetabular reduction sequence or keeping a drill within a safe corridor. This perspective examines recent work on virtual simulation and three-dimensional (3D) models in postgraduate orthopaedics. The evidence is encouraging for selected procedural and anatomical outcomes, but it is heterogeneous and gives limited guidance on transfer to patient care. We use the case as the unit of curriculum design. The learner interprets the images, commits to a plan, rehearses the relevant step and then accounts for errors. A subsequent case should alter something clinically important rather than repeat the same geometry. Kern's curriculum framework, deliberate practice, debriefing, validity arguments and entrustment provide reference points for planning and assessment. The practical conclusion is modest: use the least complex medium that exposes the decision or action requiring practice, and do not treat a simulator score as clinical competence.