Financial Contribution of Residents When Billing as “Junior Associates” in the “Surgical Firm”

Residents provide a significant service to hospitals. If resident activity was compensated at the level of supervised “junior associates” of a surgery department, more than 75% of the direct educational costs of training could be offset. Furthermore, we believe this value is underestimated. Given the foreseeable changes in Graduate Medical Education funding, it is imperative that alternative approaches for funding be explored.