ACGME Proposes New Standards for Resident Hours - July 7, 2010

On June 23, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) issued new proposed common program requirements for residency programs, including standards for resident hours. Specifically, the proposed standard would count external “moonlighting” as part of the current 80-hour weekly work limit. In addition, the proposed standard would require first-year residents to work only a maximum of 16 hours a day; after their first year, residents may be scheduled for 24 hours of continuous duty, but programs must encourage residents to use alertness management strategies. ACGME is accepting comments on the proposed standards until August 9, 2010.