A Prospective Multicenter Evaluation of the Value of the On-Call Orthopedic Resident

ABSTRACT Background  Funding for graduate medical education is at risk despite the services provided by residents. Objective  We quantified the potential monetary value of services provided by on-call orthopedic surgery residents. Methods  We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional, multicenter cohort study design. Over a 90-day period in 2014, we collected data on consults by on-call orthopedic surgery residents at 4 tertiary academic medical centers in the United States. All inpatient and emergency department consults evaluated by first-call residents during the study period were eligible for inclusion. Based on their current procedural terminology codes, procedures and evaluations for each consult were assigned a relative value unit and converted into a monetary value to determine the value of services provided by residents. The primary outcome measures were the total dollar value of each consult and the percentage of resident salaries that could be funded by the generated value of the resident consul...