Impact of the 80-hour work week on resident emergency operative experience

The goal of this study was to analyze the impact of the 80-hour work week on the emergency operative experience of surgical residents. A 2-year retrospective comparison of the operative experience in emergency abdominal procedures of postgraduate year 4 and 5 residents in a city hospital before (gro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of surgery 2005-12, Vol.190 (6), p.968-972
Main Authors: Feanny, Mark A., Scott, Bradford G., Mattox, Kenneth L., Hirshberg, Asher
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
80-hour work week
Abdomen
Abdominal surgery
Biological and medical sciences
Education, Medical, Graduate - organization & administration
Emergency surgery
General aspects
General Surgery - education
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Hospitals
Humans
Internship and Residency
Laparotomy
Medical sciences
Residency training
Retrospective Studies
Surgeons
Surgery
Surgical Procedures, Operative - standards
Time Factors
Trauma
Workload
Workweeks
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The goal of this study was to analyze the impact of the 80-hour work week on the emergency operative experience of surgical residents. A 2-year retrospective comparison of the operative experience in emergency abdominal procedures of postgraduate year 4 and 5 residents in a city hospital before (group 1) and after (group 2) duty hour restriction. There was no difference between groups in the mean number of procedures performed as the primary surgeon, but group 2 showed a 40% decrease in technically advanced procedures with a 44% increase in basic procedures. The study also demonstrated a 54% decrease in the operative volume as first assistant. Operative continuity of care by residents decreased from 60% to 26% of cases. The ACGME regulatory environment is adversely affecting the emergency operative experience of surgical residents. Our findings underscore the need to develop alternative methods to augment the residents’ operative experience.
ISSN:0002-9610
1879-1883
DOI:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2005.08.025