1. Is Your Resident Sleepy? … Not Anymore
5/31/2011

2. What is a Resident?
“Any physician in an accredited graduate medical education program, including interns, residents, and fellows.”
-ACGME Glossary of Terms

3. Why Residents?
Chances are when you go to a hospital you would first be seen by a resident before an unsupervised doctor looked at your case.
However, historically residents are assigned the worst hours and the longest hours.

4. In fact in the past the hours that truck drivers used to be more regulated than those of residents.

5. Terms to Know
In-house call - duty hours outside normal work day when residents are required to be immediately available
Duty hours – all clinical and academic activities related to program
Night-float – assigned duty hours during night hours designed to assist or eliminate in-house call
PGY-1 –post graduate year 1
All other definitions can be found at

6. Duty Hour Standards as of 2003
A resident …
Is to work no more than 80 hours per week, including moonlighting
Is to have one day off a week
Is to have a ten hour rest period between duty periods and in-house call
In-house call is only to be scheduled once every three nights
On-site duty, including in-house call, is not to exceed 24 consecutive hours
Residents remaining on duty to maintain continuity of medical care or participate in outpatient clinics, etc., may only do so for six additional hours after the 24 hour limit
-ACGME,

7. Duty Hour Standards Effective July 1, 2011
A resident …
Is to work not more than 80 hours per week, including moonlighting
Is to have one day off a week with no in-house call scheduled
Is to work not more than 24 consecutive duty hours
PGY-1 is to work no more than 16 consecutive duty hours
Is to have at least 14 hours of rest between 24 hour on duty periods
PGY-1 is to have a minimum of eight hours between duty periods; it is recommended to have ten
Is not to be scheduled for in-house call more frequently than every third night
Is not to be scheduled for more than six consecutive nights of in-house night float

8. Just Some Statistics
The cost of these new regulations could be anywhere from 1.6 to 2.5 billion dollars
Even at this cost, the ACGME (American Council for Graduate Medical Education) changed the standards to serve the patients better and to serve the residents better.
After all … a doctor’s first duty is to due no harm.

9. Sources
American Council for Graduate Education. May 31,
American Medical Association. May 31, 2011.