Educational Benefit of Hospitalist Consult Experience During Otolaryngology Training

To evaluate the consult and emergency care experience of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) trainees with a hospitalist faculty model.

An anonymous survey was distributed to OHNS residents across institutions with hospitalist models. Each respondent reported trainee and institutional details and completed a 12-item five-point Likert-scale questionnaire rating resident experiences working with (1) faculty hospitalist and (2) rotating on-call coverage models across three domains: educational features, workflow efficiency, and global experience. Subgroup analyses were conducted stratifying by training level (junior vs. senior) and degree of hospitalist experience (≥ 60% vs. < 60%).

Among 50 respondents (response rate 39.7%), the hospitalist model demonstrated superior performance across all domains. More respondents reported favorable education-to-service ratios with hospitalist supervision (58.0%) versus rotating coverage (14.0%, p < 0.001). The hospitalist model had higher ratings for quality of clinical instruction (mean difference = 0.58, p < 0.001), surgical instruction (0.37, p = 0.035), and managing emergencies (0.45, p < 0.001). Notably, 64.0% of residents reported rarely or never feeling rushed in the OR with hospitalist supervision, compared to 36.0% with rotating coverage (p < 0.001). Workflow advantages of the hospitalist model included improved procedural timeliness (p = 0.022), handoff efficiency (p = 0.002), and treatment plan clarity (p < 0.001). Training level did not significantly modulate responses. Residents with more hospitalist experience (≥ 60%) reported significantly greater advantages in clinical instruction (p = 0.026) and surgical teaching (p = 0.008) compared to those with less experience.

The hospitalist model provides educational advantages and operational efficiency. These findings support the curricular and systemic value of a hospitalist role in enhancing overall satisfaction and potentially mitigating trainee burnout.

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