Flexible duty hours allow a more positive learning experience

The results of a landmark duty-hours trial are in, and the findings indicate that allowing general surgery residents to work flexible, less restrictive hours improves continuity of care. While residents generally had more positive perceptions of their training, there were some personal trade-offs. The FIRST Trial Results of the highly anticipated Flexibility in Duty Hour Requirements for Surgical Trainees Trial, commonly known as the FIRST Trial, were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This national, cluster-randomized trial involved 117 general surgery residency programs and 151 affiliated hospitals during the 2014-2015 academic year. Fifty-nine residency programs and their 71 affiliated hospitals followed standard Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) duty-hour policies, while 58 programs and their 80 affiliated hospitals followed a flexible duty-hour policy. The study is the first large-scale, national study to examine the impact of ACGME duty-hour reforms established to prevent residents from fatigue-related errors. Residents and their mentors have been eager for data on the topic after some have raised concerns that the limits could undermine the goals of surgical training if residents are unable to follow patients through critical aspects of their care. Under the flexible-hours policy, which included the ability to work longer shifts and take less time off between shifts than allowed under current duty-hour requi...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news