Some effects on house officers of an elective rheumatology rotation

To ascertain whether a rheumatology elective (RE) increases the skills of house officers (HOs) managing patients with rheumatic disease, and whether these skills persist after the RE, medical records of 164 gouty patients, seen by 16 HOs who had had an RE and 73 who had not, were audited. The RE led to more complete documentation of history and physical examination and possibly to more frequent use of diagnostic arthrocentesis. Over the 30-month period of the study, no increase in scores of HOs not having a RE was apparent, while some deterioration, related to the interval between the RE and audit, was seen in scores of those who had an RE.