title: The cost of medical education in an ambulatory neurology clinic.
abstract: Decreased revenue from clinical services has required academic hospitals and physicians to improve productivity. Medical student education may be a significant hindrance to increased productivity and income. This study quantifies the amount of time spent by faculty members teaching medical students in an ambulatory neurology clinic as well as the amount of time students occupied rooms when seeing patients on their own. Over a three-week period in an ambulatory neurology clinic, an observer noted these quantities of time, and the opportunity costs of both amounts of time were determined. Attending physicians spent an average of 19.6 minutes per medical student per half-day teaching, which translates to an average cost of $20.78 per half-day clinic. Students spent an average of 49.9 minutes per half-day seeing patients in the absence of an attending physician, an opportunity cost to the clinic of $142.50 per student per half-day.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abramovitch
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Bimal
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Padaliya
authors.forename: Chandler
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: P David
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Charles
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000191:economics*; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D009462:Neurology / Q000191:economics / Q000193:education*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013337:Students, Medical; D014146:Training Support; D014481:United States