Using Radiology Residents to make up for Labor Shortage-Long Term Implications

Hospitals ponder residents’ role in night call sonography

"Using residents to make up for the shortage of qualified sonographers could undermine medical education and compromise patient care. Clinical demand for ultrasound studies after hours is increasing, and hospitals must juggle staffing to meet that demand. Sometimes sonographers work an in-house shift and perform the scans. Finding sonographers willing to work night shift has become a challenge. But using residents to fill in the gap could undermine their education and, ultimately, affect patient care. Resident on-call duties must always be a balance between educational experience and provision of clinical service. Training programs must be certain that the scanning done by the resident is of educational value and not just an expedient solution to a labor shortage or other business factor."

Reference-Diagnostic Imaging Online