[Work analysis of residents in the medical outpatient clinic of the Zurich University Hospital]

Abstract

Modern medical practice has led to progressive use of time-intensive, highly technical diagnostic and therapeutic measures. Meanwhile, the long working hours of hospital residents are reduced stepwise. In order to preserve adequate patient care, daily routine will have to be economized. We evaluated the present state of daily routine of residents at the outpatient clinic of the department of internal medicine, University Hospital, Zurich. Patient care consisted of roughly half the daily work, administrative matters occupied one third, and one sixth consisted of staff meetings, postgraduate teaching and other work. The main target optimization lies in the administrative area. Residents could be trained in more efficient time systems. Of particular interest would be the establishment of small strategic units adapting to their current use in private enterprise.