Establishing Benchmarks for Case Minimum Requirements During Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–Accredited Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Fellowship Training.

This article focuses on establishing surgical case volume benchmarks for operative training during Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)–accredited orthopaedic sports medicine fellowships in the United States. Analyzing case logs from 1,281 fellows between 2017 and 2023, the study found an increase in mean total case volume from 323 to 376 cases, with the bottom 10th and 30th percentiles reporting 179 and 239 cases, respectively. Significant variability existed across case categories, particularly in hip arthroscopic surgery, patellofemoral instability, foot and ankle, and elbow instability, though variability decreased overall for total and knee instability cases. The findings suggest potential targets for future case minimum requirements to standardize training, but emphasize the need for further research to develop evidence-based competency guidelines in orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship education.