Are continuity clinic patients less satisfied when the resident is postcall?

Due to recent public debate and newly imposed resident work hour restrictions, we decided to investigate the relationship of resident call status to their ambulatory patients' satisfaction. Resident continuity clinic patients were asked to rate their level of satisfaction on a 10-point Likert-type scale. Using multiple regression approaches, these data were then assessed as a function of resident call status. We found that in 646 patient encounters, patient satisfaction scores were significantly less when the resident was postcall, 8.99 +/- 1.8, than when not postcall, 9.31 +/- 1.3. We herein discuss etiologies and implications of these findings for both patient care and medical education.