Quality of care associated with number of cases seen and self-reports of clinical competence for Japanese physicians-in-training in internal medicine

BACKGROUND: The extent of clinical exposure needed to ensure quality care has not been well determined during internal medicine training. We aimed to determine the association between clinical exposure (number of cases seen), self- reports of clinical competence, and type of institution (predictor variables) and quality of care (outcome variable) as measured by clinical vignettes. METHODS: Cross-sectional study using univariate and multivariate linear analyses in 11 teaching hospitals in Japan. Participants were physicians-in-training in internal medicine departments. Main outcome measure was standardized t-scores (quality of care) derived from responses to five clinical vignettes. RESULTS: Of the 375 eligible participants, 263 (70.1%) completed the vignettes. Most were in their first (57.8%) and second year (28.5%) of training; on average, the participants were 1.8 years (range = 1–8) after graduation. Two thirds of the participants (68.8%) worked in university-affiliated teaching hospitals. The median number of cases seen was 210 (range = 10–11400). Greater exposure to cases (p = 0.0005), higher self-reports of clinical competence (p = 0.0095), and type of institution (p < 0.0001) were significantly associated with higher quality of care, using a multivariate linear model and adjusting for the remaining factors. Quality of care rapidly increased for the first 100 to 200 cases seen and tapered thereafter. CONCLUSION: The amount of clinical exposure and levels of self-reports of clinical competence, not years after graduation, were positively associated with quality of care, adjusting for the remaining factors. The learning curve tapered after about 200 cases

Coincidental malabsorption of lactose, fructose, and sorbitol ingested at low doses is not common in normal adults

Normal subjects may incompletely absorb either lactose, fructose, or sorbitol and may therefore have abdominal symptoms. The frequency of coincidental malabsorption of these sugars is not known. This is clinically important, since we often ingest them during the same day and malabsorption may cause abdominal symptoms. To shed light on this issue we studied 32 normal subjects. Volunteers drank in random order the following solutions: 20 g lactulose, 50 g sucrose, 50 and 25 g lactose, 50 and 25 g fructose, 20 and 10 g sorbitol. Semiquantitative carbohydrate malabsorption was estimated with lactulose standards. Frequency of 50-g lactose (69%), 50-g fructose (81%), and 20-g sorbitol (84%) malabsorption was not significantly different (P = 0.3). The estimated median fraction of the ingested high dose malabsorbed was 42, 19, and 68% for lactose, fructose, and sorbitol, respectively. At low challenging doses, 63% of the volunteers absorbed two of three or all three sugars, and 88% were asymptomatic to two or ail three sugars. In conclusion, the frequency of coincidental malabsorption of lactose, fructose, and sorbitol and intolerance to these sugars is not common, when normal adults ingest them at low doses

Is There a July Phenomenon?: The Effect of July Admission on Intensive Care Mortality and LOS in Teaching Hospitals

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that inexperience of new housestaff early in an academic year may worsen patient outcomes. Yet, few studies have evaluated the “July Phenomenon,” and no studies have investigated its effect in intensive care patients, a group that may be particularly susceptible to deficiencies in management stemming from housestaff inexperience. OBJECTIVE: Compare hospital mortality and length of stay (LOS) in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions from July to September to admissions during other months, and compare that relationship in teaching and nonteaching hospitals, and in surgical and nonsurgical patients. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Retrospective cohort analysis of 156,136 consecutive eligible patients admitted to 38 ICUs in 28 hospitals in Northeast Ohio from 1991 to 1997. RESULTS: Adjusting for admission severity of illness using the APACHE III methodology, the odds of death was similar for admissions from July through September, relative to the mean for all months, in major (odds ratio [OR], 0.96; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.91 to 1.02; P = .18), minor (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.10; P = .66), and nonteaching hospitals (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.91 to 1.01; P = .09). The adjusted difference in ICU LOS was similar for admissions from July through September in major (0.3%; 95% CI, −0.7% to 1.2%; P = .61) and minor (0.2%; 95% CI, −0.9% to 1.4%; P = .69) teaching hospitals, but was somewhat shorter in nonteaching hospitals (−0.8%; 95% CI, −1.4% to −0.1%; P = .03). Results were similar when individual months and academic years were examined separately, and in stratified analyses of surgical and nonsurgical patients. CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence to support the existence of a July phenomenon in ICU patients. Future studies should examine organizational factors that allow hospitals and residency programs to compensate for inexperience of new housestaff early in the academic year