In the study, researchers randomly assigned over 4,000 surgery residents to regulated hours or a more flexible schedule, allowing the residents to stay on a case after their shifts ended. Researchers then examined how many patients died or had serious complications in the month after surgery.
American Board of Surgery paid for the study, and New England Journal of Medicine published the results.
Here are five things to know:
1. In both resident groups, 9 percent of patients died or had serious complications following surgery.
2. Both groups expressed similar levels of satisfaction with their education as well as their well-being.
3. In 2011, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education set 80-hour maximum work weeks.
4. For medical school graduates participating in residency training programs in hospitals, rules impose shift limits of 16 hours for junior residents and 28 hours for senior residents.
5. Lead author Karl Bilimoria, MD, director of surgical outcomes and quality improvement at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said, “Our hope would be that the evidence would be used … to change policies fairly soon and allow flexibility back into surgical residency.”
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