What interns really do...

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22.05.08

A recent study published in the MJA examined the working patterns of interns from three major Melbourne city teaching hospitals. It found that 17.5% of time was spend on patient histories, 9.3% on examinations, 5.6% on procedures and 42.9% on liasing and documentation. During an eight week term the average ED intern consulted more senior ED staff on 683 occasions. Availability of consultant staff with which interns could discuss their cases was identified as a bottleneck in patient flow.

The study raised concerns that the surge in intern numbers which will occur in the coming years may may be too much for teaching emergency departments to accomodate. There have been suggestions that ED rotations may have to be replaced by alternative positions with some emergency exposure such as rural general practices or non-accredited EDs. However, time spent in ED provides a broad range of experiences essential for an intern's development and it is felt that substitution rotations may deprive interns of valuable experience.

Check out our recent news item to see what hospital doctors spend most of their time doing.

 


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News Tags: emergency medicine, interns

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