Severity, satisfaction and symptom resolution in patients of emergency medicine residents

Emergency department patients treated by first and second year emergency medicine residents were compared with those treated by surgical interns and residents and medical interns and residents to see if emergency medicine residents are exposed to patients with problems that aid in teaching and whether there is a suitable correspondence between patient severity and clinical training level. The Emergency Department Surveillance System at The Johns Hopkins Health Services Research and Development Center was used to gather data. Results indicated emergency medicine residents were exposed to fewer severe medical causes than medical housestaff but saw a significantly greater number of severe surgical cases than surgical interns and residents. Patients reported greater satisfaction with nonemergency medicine residents. Regarding outcome, there was no significant difference among the clinician groups. For all the patients, pain and anxiety levels improved significantly. Although the findings may be specific to The Johns Hopkins Adult Emergency Department, they demonstrate the methods and motivation for examining the training experience offered emergency medicine residents.