A Better Way to Structure Training on the Wards?

One of the consequences of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) work-hour regulations has been substantial compression of residents' schedules. House staff now have less time to attend conferences, interact with faculty, and reflect on their practices.

To address these concerns, researchers designed an experimental inpatient service at a community hospital in Boston. The service consisted of two teams, each with two attending physicians, two residents, and three interns. The attending physicians (1 hospitalist and 1 internist or subspecialist on each team), selected on the basis of superior teaching ratings, supervised their medical teams daily during bedside rounds and throughout the workday. The two control team…