In the Emergency Department resident responsibility is graduated.
Interns are responsible for seeing patients and learning patient management skills.
Their patients are presented to upper level residents and staff. They are expected to learn to recognize and begin to stabilize life-threatening illness and injuries under the supervision of more senior residents and staff. Second year residents are expected to see the majority of the patients in the department. They are expected to manage multiple patients including those critically ill. In the second half of the year, second year residents begin to supervise interns and medical students.