Duty Hours - Rest Period Language Clarification
There continues to be confusion and concerns among residents regarding duty hours and specifically the 10 hour rest period. We wanted to clarify the issue and assure residents that their programs must allow for at least 10 hours recovery between shifts. The duty hour requirements as posted on the ACGME Anesthesiology RRC webpage specifically state the following:
- Duty hours are defined as all clinical and academic activities related to the residency program; i.e., patient care (both inpatient and outpatient), administrative duties relative to patient care, the provision for transfer of patient care, time spent in-house during call activities, and scheduled activities such as conferences. Duty hours do not include reading and preparation time spent away from the duty site.
- Duty hours must be limited to 80 hours per week, averaged over a four-week period, inclusive of all in-house call activities.
- Residents must be provided with 1 day in 7 free from all educational and clinical responsibilities, averaged over a 4-week period, inclusive of call. One day is defined as 1 continuous 24-hour period free from all clinical, educational, and administrative duties.
- Adequate time for rest and personal activities must be provided. This should consist of a 10-hour time period provided between all daily duty periods and after in-house call. The RRC will not consider requests for a rest period of less than 10 hours.
A full-length copy of the ACGME program requirement for Anesthesiology can be found at the following link:
http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/RRC_040/040_prIndex.asp If you have further questions regarding this issue feel free to contact your Anesthesiology RRC resident member Maggie Jeffries, M.D. at
mjeffri3@jhmi.edu who can answer your question directly or forward it on to the appropriate person(s).