Is Chief Resident Autonomy Safe for Patients? An Analysis of Quality in Training Initiative (QITI) Data to Assess Chief Resident Performance.

Objective: A chief resident service (CRS) provides a unique environment to assess competence throughout all aspects of patient care. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program and Quality in Training Initiative databases are utilized to assess patient outcomes by individual residents with institutional and national comparisons. We hypothesized that residents on the CRS would have equivalent patient care outcomes to peers not on CRS and to chief residents nationally.