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The following is a summary of “Emergency medicine resident productivity during the SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic,” published in the September 2024  issue of Emergency Medicine by Shaw et al.

The SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 pandemic disrupted medical education in various care settings, including the Emergency Department (ED), and the effects of these disruptions on resident training and clinical productivity remained unclear.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to determine Emergency Medicine (EM) resident productivity in the ED during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They conducted a retrospective study at an academic medical center with an EM residency program, collecting data from the electronic medical record between 7/1/2017 and 10/31/2021 with the primary outcome of patients per hour (PPH) with Shifts for the postgraduate year (PGY) 1 and 2. Descriptive statistics (mean ± standard deviation), correlation testing, and multivariate linear regression were used for analysis. 

The results showed residents of PGY1 with fewer patients per hour (PPH) than residents of PGY2 (1.00 ± 0.12 vs 1.40 ± 0.13 PPH,  P< 0.001). During the academic year (AY) 2019–2020, there was a reduction in resident productivity compared to pre-COVID (2017–2019), with a statistically significant difference at the PGY2 level (PGY1: 0.96 ± 0.13,  P=0.06; PGY2: 1.31 ± 0.10 PPH,  P=0.004). This difference was resolved during AY 2020–2021. Multivariate linear regression indicated resident productivity was associated with patient volume, month, and year of residency.

They concluded that resident productivity decreased during AY 2019–2020, but this decline was transient and resolved by AY 2020–2021. They found that resident productivity was associated with both the months of training and ED volume.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773232024000336