A new study from Johns Hopkins examines whether outcomes are different when physicians-in-training are working on the case. The study was published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine and Newswise reported on the findings.
There were 16,098 patients involved in the study who received brain or spine surgery from 2006 to 2012. The researchers used data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Program database.
Here are five key findings from the report:
1. The patients who had surgery with just the attending physician reported an 11.7 percent complication rate; the patients who underwent treatment with the full-trained physician and a resident had a 20.12 percent complication rate.
2. The patients who had a resident along with the attending physician had a slightly higher risk of death within 30 days after surgery.
3. The researchers noted patients treated at academic medical centers where the residents participated in cases were often higher-risk patients from the outset and more complex cases.
4. When controlling for the patient's presurgical condition and illness severity before surgery, the analysis showed having a resident present didn't have an impact on the patients' risk for postsurgical complications or death.
5. Neurosurgeons have among the longest residencies in medicine — seven years — and as they become more experienced, they are able to take over more responsibility in surgery.