How duty hour restrictions are hurting residency training

As I get near the completion of an intense 5-year orthopedic surgery residency program, I had an interesting interaction with our hospitals sub-committee specifically tasked to address duty hour and resident fatigue issues. As they gave examples from other departments about changes made to their programs regarding duty hours, a clear-as-mud connection was continually made. They spoke of “improvements” made as the result of residents stepping up to serve as whistleblowers in identifying duty hour violations within various programs. I quickly chimed in to get clarification. They were assuming that increasing compliance with duty hour restrictions set forth by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) meant an improvement in the residency program that went beyond improved compliance. It made me reflect on the last five years of my residency training. I asked myself, “How many times have duty hour restrictions helped me?” The answer is many. Being in the first year group where PGY-1 residents (also known as interns) were specifically restricted to 16-hour workdays resulted in my not having to cover grueling 24 hour-plus call in the trauma and burn intensive care units, the general surgery department, or any other off-service rotation that was of minimal interest to me. I spent, at least, part of every single day of my intern year home with my wife. I had time to help train our new golden retriever puppy.  It was great. A much different intern exper...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Education Orthopedics Residency Source Type: blogs