Free paper session 1

Friday 16 May 2008, 09:30–11:00 (Harris Suite)

01 SENIOR HOUSE OFFICER AND FOUNDATION YEAR DOCTORS IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE: DO THEY PERFORM EQUALLY?

PAR Armstrong, AL White, S Thakore. Emergency Department, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee

Introduction: Implementation of the foundation and specialty training programmes has changed postgraduate medical education and training. Shorter emergency department attachments, coupled with a generalised reduction in working hours and increased time off the “shop floor” at formal teaching and assessments, has reduced exposure to patients, and concerns have been raised about the productivity of junior trainees in emergency medicine. This study’s aim was to compare the productivity of junior doctors working four month attachments, with those working 6 month attachments in our emergency department.

Methods: A prospective observational study was performed with junior trainees. Between 2 August 2006 and 31 July 2007, senior house officer ((SHO) 6 month posts) and foundation year 2 doctors ((FY2) 4 month posts) worked on the same rota. We compared productivity between the two groups by looking at the average number of patients seen per hour. Information was obtained from a computerised patient record and management system. Investigators were blinded to individual doctor details, and trainees were unaware of the study to prevent performance bias. An average number of shop floor hours were calculated for both groups of trainees, accounting for time away from the shop floor for leave, teaching, assessments and rest breaks. Thus an “hourly rate” was calculated for both groups of doctors. Results were analysed using SPSS for Windows and Microsoft Excel 2007.

Results: FY2 doctors worked an average of 40.33 hours per week. SHO doctors worked an average of 41.14 hours. Both groups demonstrated a statistically significant rise in productivity between their first and final month.

02 ULTRASOUND IMAGING OF SIMPLE DISTAL FOREARM FRACTURES IN CHILDREN: IS THIS A DIAGNOSTIC ALTERNATIVE?

D Redmill, R McLaughlin, A McIlwee, S McGovern. Ulster Hospital, Belfast

Introduction: An early pilot study has proposed that ultrasound imaging of a possible simple forearm fracture …