Inpatient service of a Navy family practice residency program

A retrospective chart audit was conducted among the 294 admissions to an autonomous family practice inpatient service of a large Navy family practice residency program over a seven-month period. Data obtained included level of training of primary care physician, duration of stay, hospital ward, age/sex profile, primary discharge diagnosis, and number and types of consultations requested. Routine obstetrical deliveries accounted for the largest amount of admissions, followed by infections, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory problems. Adult onset diabetes mellitus, gastroenteritis, and preeclampsia were the most frequent medical, pediatric, and obstetric disease entities, respectively. The wide variety of diseases admitted to the service and the low consultation rate (13.2 percent) demonstrate the flexibility and depth of the inpatient management skills of residency trained family physicians.