When medical students are present in the emergency department, the patients' ED length of stay increases by approximately five minutes, according to an analysis of more than 1.3 million ED visits published in JAMA.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, looked at patient ED visits from 2000 through 2014 and their length of stay from arrival to ED discharge or admission as well as student presence or absence in the ED. They examined visits to three urban, academic EDs associated with the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia.
The average length of stay was 265 minutes overall, and LOS was 4.6 minutes longer when students were present, which was statistically significant.
"Future studies should assess different experiences and other patient-centered or financial outcomes," according to the authors.