AMA Endorses 80-Hour Work Week for Medical Residents

During the American Medical Association's annual meeting in Chicago this week, the group's House of Delegates recommended that medical residents work no more than 80 hours per week and no longer than 24 hours at a time, except in special circumstances. The recommendation is "nearly identical" to standards recently announced by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the AP/Chicago Sun-Times reports (Tanner, AP/Chicago Sun-Times, 6/21). The council's guidelines, unveiled June 12, limit residents' work weeks to 80 hours and shifts to no more than 24 hours at a time. In addition, the guidelines say that residents should have at least 10 hours of rest between shifts. The council, which accredits the nation's teaching hospitals, can revoke hospitals' accreditation if they fail to meet the standards (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 6/13). The AMA said it will "urge the council to enforce the rules." The new limits are an effort to prevent medical errors by overworked residents, but some doctors at the AMA meeting said no data exist on how many mistakes are caused by tired medical residents. In addition, many hospitals have questioned how the rules will affect staffing costs and medical residents' training (AP/Chicago Sun-Times, 6/21).