COMPARISON OF SUPPORT SERVICES OFFERED BY RESIDENCIES IN 6 SPECIALTIES, 1979-80 AND 1988-89

The purpose of this study was to determine the availability of each of 19 support services offered by residencies in six specialities in 1988-89 and to compare the results with those of a similar survey performed a decade earlier. A questionnaire was sent to a random sample (576 residencies) of the nation's programs in family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery. Nearly all responding programs (493) scheduled residents on-call every third night or less frequently. Training programs in all the specialities studied, except pediatrics, offered fewer part-time residencies and, except psychiatry, offered more child care services. Night-shift rotations were used more often in internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, and pediatrics programs than in the other specialties. Family practice programs were more likely to offer support groups and various seminar-type experiences. Despite the recent attention to residents' working hours and conditions, many programs in many specialties do not yet offer a variety of commonly utilized, effective support services for residents during training. The authors conclude that with mounting pressure from legislative and regulating bodies, now is the time for the profession to voluntarily incorporate support services for residents into training programs.