An experimental inpatient-medicine service was designed with reduced resident workload comprising two teams, with each team consisting of two attending physicians, two residents, and three interns.Attending physicians, selected for their "teaching prowess", supervised the teams throughout the workday and during bedside team-teaching rounds.
This experimental model was compared with a control model comprising two teams, with each consisting of one resident and two interns, plus multiple supervising attending physicians who volunteered to participate.
Over a 12-month period, 1892 patients were assigned to the experimental teams and 2096 to the control teams; the average census per intern was 3.5 and 6.6 patients, respectively.
Overall satisfaction was significantly higher among trainees on the experimental teams than among those on the control teams (78% and 55%, respectively; P=0.002).
Interns on the experimental teams spent more time in learning and teaching activities than did interns on the control teams (learning: 20% of total time vs. 10%, P=0.01; teaching: 8% of total time vs. 2%, P=0.006).
A model with two attending physicians and limited patient-staff census resulted in greater satisfaction on the part of trainees and attending physicians than the standard approach.
Reduced trainee workload and increased participation of attending physicians was associated with higher trainee satisfaction and increased time for educational activities.
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