After debating the necessity of requiring long hours to train new doctors, the organization responsible for accrediting the nation’s teaching hospitals approved new rules last week that prohibit medical residents from working more than 80 hours a week.
The new policy by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education is a step forward for doctors-in-training and the quality of care for patients.
Medical residents have not been restricted in their work hours, although a recommendation for no more than 80 hours has been in place for some time.
But it seems the reality for many residents has been a work week that adds up to more than 100 hours.
For anyone working in an educational atmosphere, this many hours can lead to numerous performance problems. And when the lives of other people are at stake, a bleary-eyed resident is not fit to make critical, life-or-death decisions on the fly.
Critics of the plan say residents will not gain the necessary experience and endurance - both mental and physical - that a doctor needs.
But there is a fine line between stressful education and unnecessary, dangerous expectations.
The human mind functions best when rested, and it would stand to reason these young doctors could learn more and be more efficient when rested.
The dangers of long hours has been debated for years, with deaths of patients linked to weary residents who are tired to the point of making bad decisions. According to a study by the Institute of Medicine, the number of errors made by residents has increased in recent years, mostly because of sleep deprivation.
For those training to become doctors, the time spent learning in a hospital is crucial.
The hands-on experience is necessary - but those hands need to be steady to best care for patients. Even with the restrictions, residents still will find themselves stressed and tired - it is, after all, the nature of the job.
But fewer hours of work a week may help them become better doctors and, in the process, provide better care for patients - a goal few could argue with.
