Are First-Year Emergency Medicine Residents Still Behind on Level 1 Care-Based Milestones?

Abstract

Background The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education defines Level 1 as "the resident demonstrates milestones expected of an incoming resident," yet a previous study of emergency medicine (EM) interns showed most were not meeting Level 1 milestones. In addition, previous research indicates that residents often provide more favorable self-assessments when compared to faculty assessments. Our study, performed in July 2022, aims to determine whether incoming EM residents remain behind on Level 1 care-based milestones and if resident self-assessments are consistent with faculty assessments. Methodology This is an observational study involving five distinct EM residency programs. Incoming interns were directly assessed by faculty for behaviors associated with the care-based milestones for EM using a standardized survey. Interns were asked to complete this same survey regarding their own performance. Results Faculty completed a total of 101 assessments on 49 residents. Of the 49 residents, 39 completed self-evaluations (80%). Achievement of Level 1 ranged from 25% to 82%. Residents had significantly higher self-assessments than faculty assessments on PC-1, PC-5a, and PC-6a. Faculty assessments were significantly higher than resident self-assessments on PC-6b. Conclusions Greater than 75% of incoming interns were able to meet Level 1 milestones in three of seven care-based milestones. However, there is a generalized trend toward overall improvement when compared to previous studies. Residents continue to demonstrate higher self-assessments than faculty in three separate care-based milestones and faculty rated residents significantly higher in one care-based milestone. This is consistent with previous studies.