Objective: To evaluate the competency of general practitioners in radiographic diagnosis of musculoskeletal injuries and the outcome of a fracture diagnostic workshop.
Materials and Methods: A workshop for radiographic diagnosis of musculoskeletal injuries was held for general practitioners on 22-25 January 2002 at Prince of Songkla University. Each participant did a pre-test of interpretating ten plain radiographs of commonly misdiagnosed bone and joint injuries. The post-test was done on the same films after completing the workshop.
Results: Of eighty-one participants, twenty-nine (35.8%) completed both pre- and post-tests. All of them had a higher post-test score than pre-test. The mean pre-test score was 2.81/10 (range 1-5, SD = 1.16) and the post-test was 6.8/10 (range 5.50-9.00, SD = 1.20). The diagnostic competency was sinificantly improved after the  workshop (P < 0.001). The most common errors of diagnosis were found in fractures in children, wrist injuries, non-displaced femoral neck fracture and osteochondral fracture of the knee.
Conclusion: General practitioners may have deficiencies in radiographic diagnosis of musculoskeletal injuries. Practical workshop can effectively improve their competency.