A teaching hospital is a medical facility where medical students and newly graduated doctors can complete their training. They are sometimes referred to as university hospitals because they are frequently but not always associated with a university. Because many of the working doctors are supervised trainees, critics argue that teaching hospitals are less safe than regular ones, with a higher risk of error due to inexperience. Teaching hospitals, on the other hand, are frequently well-funded and may have better and more up-to-date technology and treatments than state or private medical facilities.
Practical experience in medical disciplines has long been required as part of the doctor’s education. Early Persian hospitals were used to teach incoming physicians and provide them with real-world experience as early as the 6th century. To be considered a fully qualified specialist, today’s graduate and post-graduate physicians must spend several years training in teaching hospitals.
During the second half of their four-year graduate program in the United States, students begin working in a teaching hospital. The students are interns at this point, not full-fledged medical doctors. Following graduation, the new doctors begin a three-year residency in teaching hospitals in their chosen fields. Typically, the first year of residency is spent learning a variety of disciplines as an intern to an advanced resident. Physicians usually choose a specialty after their intern year and spend several more years training in that discipline.
Doctors in other countries, such as New Zealand, are trained in a different way. Instead of a three-year undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate program, medical students complete a six-year program that includes an introduction to teaching hospitals in the third year. In contrast to the United States, where post-graduate doctors are matched with teaching hospitals through a national database, New Zealanders only have two major medical schools. The use of training hospitals varies around the world, depending on national training programs and internship opportunities at local hospitals.
Patients may be concerned about being treated at a teaching hospital, which is understandable. Although the doctors permitted to practice medicine in hospitals in many countries are already qualified physicians, they lack the same level of experience as their fully trained colleagues. Interns and residents, on the other hand, are typically closely supervised and second-guessed their teachers, so the care you receive may be more thoroughly researched and considered. If you are being treated an intern or resident and are uncomfortable or concerned, ask to speak with a senior doctor before accepting any recommendations or treatments.
The chaotic world of a teaching hospital has been an unavoidable setting for a slew of popular television shows. In the United States alone, the life-and-death situation of any hospital, combined with the training of young doctors, has resulted in the creation of at least five popular shows. All of the shows set in teaching hospitals include Grey’s Anatomy, Chicago Hope, House, MD, ER, and Scrubs. While these shows usually feature diligent researchers looking for accurate medical information and can be quite entertaining, they should not be used to gauge the level of skill and professionalism at a real-life teaching hospital.