The neglected role of resource manager in residency training

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate residency training in the four roles of systems-based practice: patient care advocate, team member, information integrator, and resource manager. Methods: The authors surveyed 457 psychiatry residents and fellows across 12 programs from April 2009 to November 2010. Residents were asked to rate the extent in which they were encouraged to perform behaviors consistent with systems-based practice. Results: Approximately 52 % residents (n=237) completed the survey. Differences in the average Likert ratings for the four roles were significant [F (3, 4,021)=122.152, p<0.001]. Residents were more likely to report routine encouragement to function as a team member (82 %, OR=7.2, 95 % CI=4.7-11.0), information integrator (77 %, OR=5.4, 95 % CI=3.6-8.1), or patient care advocate (74 %, OR=4.6, 95 % CI=3.1-6.8) compared to resource manager (38 %). Conclusions: Based upon this study, residency training in resource management is relatively limited compared to other aspects of systems-based practice.