Board Expected to Vote on Dangerous Proposal Within the Next Few Weeks
Media Contact:
Kelly Thibert, DO, MPH National President
American Medical Student Association
Email: [email protected]
Sterling, VA – February 3, 2017: More than 67,000 petition signatures were delivered today to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), urging its board, which meets this weekend in Chicago, to reject a dangerous proposal to roll back work-hour restrictions for resident doctors. The petitions were collected by Public Citizen, Care2, and the American Medical Student Association (AMSA).
In November, following intense pressure from leadership within dozens of physician organizations, an ACGME task force—the private body responsible for setting resident work-hour limits aimed at protecting both residents’ and patients’ health and safety—proposed eliminating the current 16-hour shift limit for first-year medical residents. This proposal would instead permit shifts of 28 hours or longer without sleep.
The ACGME board is expected to vote on this proposal in the coming weeks, with the new rules potentially taking effect at the start of the next residency academic year in July 2017.
The petitions delivered by Care2 today follow a national poll conducted last summer by Lake Research Partners, commissioned by Public Citizen. The poll revealed overwhelming public support for restricting medical residents’ shifts to no more than 16 consecutive hours without sleep. Specifically, 86 percent oppose lifting the current 16-hour limit for first-year residents, and 80 percent favor applying the 16-hour limit to all residents.
The November proposal also included other concerning changes:
- Allowing all residents to exceed even the proposed 28-hour shift limit without sleep, without needing to document their reasons;
- Removing required minimum time off following shifts up to 24 hours;
- Permitting residents to exceed the current maximum of six consecutive night shifts.
This proposal was introduced despite long-established evidence showing that residents working shifts beyond 16 consecutive hours are significantly more likely to commit serious medical errors. Additionally, residents experiencing extreme sleep deprivation face increased personal risks, including needle-stick injuries, motor vehicle accidents, and depression.
“Medical residents are dedicated and hardworking, but they’re not superhuman,” said Dr. Michael Carome, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group. “Sleep-deprived residents pose dangers to themselves, their patients, and others. The ACGME board must reject this proposal in the interests of both resident and patient safety.”
Besides Public Citizen, other organizations opposing the removal of the 16-hour shift cap for first-year residents include AMSA, the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU Healthcare), the National Physicians Alliance, Consumers Union, and numerous patient, consumer, and public interest groups and advocates.
Dr. Kelly Thibert, AMSA National President, who begins residency training this summer, stated, “Extreme sleep deprivation and excessively long shifts are outdated practices left over from the early 20th century when residents literally lived in the hospitals where they trained. There is no valid reason to continue subjecting medical trainees to prolonged physical and mental exhaustion—with its damaging effects on them, their families, and their patients—just to uphold an outdated tradition.”
Dr. Eve Kellner, president of CIR/SEIU Healthcare, added, “When I worked at a sleep laboratory prior to medical school, I directly observed how sleep deprivation increased errors and slowed reaction times. As a patient, I want my health entrusted to a rested physician who will make fewer potentially life-threatening mistakes.”
Lacey Kohlmoos, an online organizing strategist at Care2 and spouse of an incoming first-year resident, noted, “I’ve personally seen how excessively long shifts and sleep deprivation can cause young doctors to become exhausted, detached, chronically fatigued, isolated from family and friends, and even suicidal. My husband is about to start residency training, and the ACGME’s proposal makes me deeply concerned for his safety, the safety of his patients, and our family’s emotional well-being.”
Read AMSA’s comments in December on the ACGME task force’s proposal.
See AMSA’s other work on resident work hours.
About AMSA:
AMSA is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. Founded in 1950, AMSA is a student-governed, non-profit organization committed to representing the concerns of physicians-in-training. To learn more about AMSA, our strategic priorities, or joining the organization, please visit us online at http://amsa.org.
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