Consultations from a family medicine inpatient service

The pattern and rate of consultation from a family practice residency program inpatient service were examined. The most frequently consulted medical specialty was cardiology; the most frequently consulted surgical specialty was general surgery. The overall consultation rate was 50%. The consultation rates for the most frequent discharge diagnoses were examined. Pediatric admissions were less likely to received consultations than adult or geriatric admissions. The results of this study suggest that family physicians are able to manage most of their hospitalized patients without consultation.