The author describes how an accumulation of scientific evidence demonstrated that sleep deprivation was adversely affecting physician performance. In response, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) enacted a requirement in 2003 to limit duty hours for medical interns and residents. The initial resistance felt within the medical profession to limiting resident duty hours was wholly uncharacteristic of this particular "population," however. In fact, the response was directly counter to the available medical and scientific evidence.
The authors report on results from a survey assessing the attitudes of medical residents toward the AOA and ACGME duty-hour standards that became effective for all accredited residency programs on July 1, 2003. Data were gathered from 128 residents in four medical specialties: family medicine, general surgery, internal medicine, and obstetrics and gynecology. The dominant response of medical residents to duty-hour restrictions is clearly--though not uniformly--positive. A consistent pattern of positive responses toward the standards among internal medicine residents contrasts with less favorable responses among residents in general surgery programs. Gender differences are noted as well, though the most consistent pattern in resident survey responses appears to be by medical specialty.
The 2005 AOA Research Conference will take place at the Unified Osteopathic Convention in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, October 23, 2005, through Thursday, October 27, 2005. The theme of this year's conference is "Osteopathic Medicine: A Profession United for Excellence in Healthcare."
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