ATTENDING SUPERVISION OF NONEMERGENCY MEDICINE RESIDENTS IN A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL ED

There have been a limited number of studies assessing the impact of at tending physician supervision of residents in the emergency department (ED). The objective of this study is to describe the changes in patie nt care when attending emergency physicians (AEPs) supervise nonemerge ncy medicine residents in a university hospital ED. This was a prospec tive study including 1,000 patients, 32 second- and third-year nonemer gency medicine residents and eight AEPs, The AEPs classified changes i n care for each case as major, minor, or none, according to a 40-item data sheet list, There were 153 major changes and 353 minor changes by the AEP, The most common major changes were ordering laboratory or x- ray tests that showed a clinically significant abnormality, and elicit ing important physical exam findings. Potentially limb- or life-threat ening errors were averted by the AEP in 17 patients, Supervision of no nemergency medicine residents in the ED resulted in frequent and clini cally important changes in patient care. Copyright (C) 1995 by W.B. Sa unders Company