Medical students presence has minimal impact on patient length of stay, study finds — 4 things to know

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found the presence of medical students in the emergency department adds less than five minutes to the average length of a patient’s stay. Researchers evaluated more than 1.3 million patient cases over a period of 15 years at three different hospitals.

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JAMA published the study.

Here are four things to know:

1. The average total length of stay was 264.7 minutes.

2. The length of stay was 4.6 minutes longer when medical students were involved in assessing patients.

3. Researchers noted the added length of time is “likely clinically insignificant.”

4. “As students, we gradually transition from observing to aiding medical care, but sometimes worry that the additional time we spend with patients may slow care,” said Kimon L.H. Ioannides, a fourth year medical school student at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and lead author on the study. “This study provides some reassurance that our teachers are able to minimize delays in care for our patients during this transition.”

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