The impact of the residency teaching model on the efficiency of the emergency department at an academic center

The residency teaching model is often cited as a source of inefficiency in the healthcare system. We build a simulation model of an Emergency Department (ED) at a large urban academic hospital. Using historical data and a natural experiment involving residents in the ED, we show that residents in fact increase throughput and lower service and waiting times compared to not being there at all. ► We built a simulation model of an Emergency Department at an academic medical center. ► We found that residents increase throughput while lowering treatment times and waiting times. ► Residents have a greater effect on lowering treatment times for higher severity patients.