Monthly Progression of Emergency Medicine Resident Efficiency: What Can We Expect of Our Residents Throughout Training?

BACKGROUND

Developing the capacity for efficient patient care is essential during emergency medicine (EM) residency training. Previous studies have demonstrated that resident efficiency improves during each year of training.

OBJECTIVES

This study assessed the progression of EM resident efficiency monthly and sought to develop a model that describes this progression in terms of patients per hour (pts/h) weighted by month of training.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective review of EM resident efficiency as determined by pts/h using EM resident monthly patient logs from a postgraduate year (PGY) 1-3 EM training program. Mean pts/h and standard deviation (SDs) were calculated based on month of training. One-way analysis of variance compared year-to-year training. We formulated several linear regression models to describe this progression.

RESULTS

We analyzed 51 consecutive months of patient logs from 110 residents. The mean pts/h for PGY1 was 1.201 (n = 85, SD = 0.241), for PGY2 was 1.497 (n = 82, SD = 0.218), and for PGY3 was 1.676 (n = 80, SD = 0.224). Linear regression was used to describe patients seen per hour by the month of training. A significant regression was found with an R of 0.437 and p < 0.000. Over 36 months of training, a resident's predicted pts/h is equal to 1.113 + (0.018 × month of training).

CONCLUSIONS

EM resident efficiency increases monthly, with most improvement occurring in the PGY1 year. Understanding this improvement may aid in resident performance evaluation and the understanding of predicted resident workflow.