Rotating residentsʹ impressions of an ED managed by career emergency physicians

Rotating residents (RRs) were surveyed to determine their impressions of an emergency department (ED) run by career emergency physicians (EPs), in the hope of generating insights into controversies that occur between the ED and other hospital departments. A questionnaire was distributed to RRs at Taipei Veterans General Hospital in September 1993. The questionnaire inquired about basic data, workload, and ED training and teaching, and also asked respondents for their overall evaluation of emergency medicine and EPs. Of 117 questionnaires issued to residents who had rotated in the ED during the previous 5 years, 60 respondents from the departments of internal medicine, family medicine, chest medicine, neurology, and respiratory therapy completed and returned the questionnaires. Ninety percent believed the workload of the ED to be heavy, and 87% considered two to three months to be an appropriate ED training time. Only 40% were willing to extend their ED training time to achieve a more reasonable workload, and 83% considered their ED residency stressful, with too many patients and long working hours cited as the leading sources of stress. Fear of malpractice suits and difficult interaction with patients and patientsʹ families were also cited as stressful factors. All RRs considered ED training important; self-learning and the accumulation of ED experience, as well as the conference on emergency pitfalls, were the two aspects of training most favored, garnering approval by 92% and 80%, respectively. The overall impression of the RRS on emergency medicine and the performance of EPs was favorable. It was concluded that the running of an ED with the spirit of emergency medicine as well as the staffing of an ED with EPs are conducive to encouragement for the RRs, although more efforts are necessary to lessen the workload if the RRs are to experience an ideal learning environment in the ED.