Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
  • About Us
    • About the Ochsner Journal
    • Editorial Board
  • More
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
  • Other Publications
    • Ochsner Journal Blog

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Ochsner Journal
  • Other Publications
    • Ochsner Journal Blog
  • My alerts
  • Log in
Ochsner Journal

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
  • About Us
    • About the Ochsner Journal
    • Editorial Board
  • More
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
OtherOchsner Academic Affairs

The Importance of House Staff to an Academic Medical Institution

William W. Pinsky
Ochsner Journal July 2000, 2 (3) 134;
William W. Pinsky
Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation, New Orleans, LA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

At a time when academic values appear to have been replaced by economic and market demands, it is very important to reiterate the value of Graduate Medical Education (GME). There is no doubt that good teaching leads to good patient care. GME is the linkage connecting the didactic learning of medical school to the lifelong learning process as a practicing physician.

At a recent conference in Chicago sponsored by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, it was duly noted that the healthcare environment has contributed to the destabilization of teaching institutions. Some of the reasons for this include: the systems in which GME occurs are frequently fragmented and lack coordination; efforts to take costs out of the system and payor demands for deeply discounted rates affect teaching; there is an ongoing threat of further reductions in government support for GME and a growing difficulty in justifying government support for physician education; as well as the fact that managed care and medical education are not an easy fit. However, we do not need to continue to apologize to our house staff for managed care. They have “grown up with managed care,” and it is our responsibility to teach them to succeed in this environment.

It is precisely this environment that gives Ochsner every opportunity to be successful with our GME program. Because of our large multispecialty group practice and large participation in managed care, we offer house staff the kind of environment that can teach them to be successful practitioners. We also understand the need for educating and developing physicians in an academic environment that will allow them to enter the real healthcare world.

We are proud to have had another successful residency match and look forward to welcoming our new house staff. At a time when many institutions are threatened with resident unions, such as the much publicized National Labor Relations Board decision concerning the Boston Medical Center, we are fortunate to have a very active house staff association that has been brought into the management of our GME programs through the GME committee.

The house staff is an integral part of our healthcare team. They are the ones generally most available to interact with our patients, their families, and our other professional care givers. While they are an important cog in our ability to provide excellent healthcare, we must always be vigilant to balance their participation in education and clinical service. At the same time, we recognize the need to continue to measure and improve our educational performance.

We have recently undertaken an evaluation of the interaction of general surgery house staff with all elements of the hospital. We hope to use this activity as a prototype to evaluate the other residency programs to determine how the house staff can be educated most effectively, while at the same time ensuring that we provide the highest quality of efficient satisfying clinical service. This particular project involves all levels of healthcare providers within the hospital. Our GME executive committee, the Department of Surgery leadership, and senior hospital leadership are overseeing this project

With impending changes to the Direct and Indirect GME payments, it is imperative we examine our approach to education while searching for more secure sources of funding. Academics is a core value in our institution, and GME is a significant part of that commitment

  • Ochsner Clinic and Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Ochsner Journal
Vol. 2, Issue 3
Jul 2000
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Ochsner Journal.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
The Importance of House Staff to an Academic Medical Institution
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Ochsner Journal
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Ochsner Journal web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
The Importance of House Staff to an Academic Medical Institution
William W. Pinsky
Ochsner Journal Jul 2000, 2 (3) 134;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
The Importance of House Staff to an Academic Medical Institution
William W. Pinsky
Ochsner Journal Jul 2000, 2 (3) 134;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • The Roles of Research in an Academic Medical Center
Show more Ochsner Academic Affairs

Similar Articles

Current Post at the Blog

Open Access Content—Not Ours!—Has Disappeared

Our Content

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Ahead of Print
  • Archive
  • Featured Contributors
  • Ochsner Journal Blog
  • Archive at PubMed Central

Information & Forms

  • Instructions for Authors
  • Instructions for Reviewers
  • Submission Checklist
  • FAQ
  • License for Publishing-Author Attestation
  • Patient Consent Form
  • Submit a Manuscript

Services & Contacts

  • Permissions
  • Sign up for our electronic table of contents
  • Feedback Form
  • Contact Us

About Us

  • Editorial Board
  • About the Ochsner Journal
  • Ochsner Health
  • University of Queensland-Ochsner Clinical School
  • Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers

© 2022 Ochsner Clinic Foundation

Powered by HighWire