Effects of Varying Inpatient Attending Physician Rotation Length on Medical Students’ and Attending Physicians’ Perceptions of Teaching Quality

BACKGROUND: Patient care needs and work hour restrictions have altered inpatient internal medicine educational experiences. PURPOSE: The goal is to compare different attending physician rotation lengths on medical students' and attending physicians' experiences. METHODS: We studied clerkship students' evaluations (N= 86) and internal medicine attending surveys (N=21). We divided attending experiences into 2-week and 4-week rotations. We assessed exam scores and evaluations with 5-point Likert questions (5=strongly agree). Means were compared with t tests, Wilcoxon Ranked Sums, and logistic regression. RESULTS: More than 90% of students and attending physicians responded. Students and attending physicians generally evaluated their 2- and 4-week experiences similarly. Attending physicians favored 4 weeks for evaluating students' performance (3.30 vs. 4.36, p<.01). Exam scores were similar in the 2- and 4-week student groups (M=78.2, SD=5.0 vs. 76.5, SD=8.5, p=.43). CONCLUSIONS: Shorter rotations do not negatively impact students' experiences. Obtaining quality evaluations may be difficult for shorter rotations.