Work Hours

The institution recognizes that education and patient care are integrally related. Graduate medical education programs have a responsibility to the resident to provide training in continuity of patient care. Programs provide through their duty hours and call schedules an appropriate balance between patient care and teaching/training programs in an environment conducive to both resident education and patient care. This environment ensures wherever possible that undue stress and fatigue among residents is avoided.

On average, resident in-house call occurs annually no more frequently than every third night. Programs provide, on a yearly average, the opportunity for one full day out of seven free of hospital duties. Each program will make the distinction between on-call in-hospital and on-call availability at home, if used, to quantify and clarify the character of a call. Adequate backup through resident physicians or supervising staff physicians must be available and utilized as needed to assure that patient care is not jeopardized by resident stress or fatigue.

Resident training is a full-time responsibility. It encompasses the formal curriculum, the individual learning opportunity through independent study time, and clinical exposure including the service component of patient care. It is, therefore, imperative that the program director must be informed of activities outside the educational program (i.e., moonlighting). Outside activities must not interfere with the resident's performance in the educational process defined in the agreement between the institution and the resident.

The facilities afforded the residents to ensure an appropriate environment for learning and providing patient care shall include a lounge and food service capabilities during assigned duty hours. On-call rooms must be available for each resident on night duty in any hospital.

Department of Surgery Work Hours Policy