Survey of residents' attitudes toward reform of work hours
S. T. Ruby, L. Allen, L. P. Fielding and P. J. Deckers
Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington.
Traditional work schedules of surgical residents have been cited as a
factor that negatively influences residency education and the quality of
patient care. As an adjunct to the formulation of recommendations for the
development of the environment for general surgery training, the New
England Association of Program Directors in Surgery set out to sample the
attitudes of surgical residents in New England relative to their perceived
need to reform work hours. Seventy-two percent of the residents thought
there was a need for some level of resident work schedule change. The major
variable that correlated with this opinion was the reported amount of sleep
that a resident needed before returning to work after a 24-hour shift. The
ultimate effect on education, patient care, and fiscal resources of these
potentially sensitive changes remains to be determined.
