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Ann Thorac Surg 2005;80:1569-1571
© 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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Editorial

Impact of Resident Duty Hour Standards on Cardiothoracic Residents and Program Directors

^a Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho
^b Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
^c Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
^d Division of Cardiac Surgery, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
^e Department of Surgery, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California
^f CTSNet, Baltimore, Maryland
^g Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas

^_* Address correspondence to Dr DeLaRosa, Idaho State University, Portneuf Medical Center, 777 Hospital Way, Pocatello, ID 83201 (Email: idahoheart@aol.com).

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

	Introduction

 
In July 2003, The American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) implemented mandatory restrictions on resident duty hours for all residents enrolled in post-graduate training programs. The Resident Duty Hour Standards (RDHS) affected nearly 100,000 residents in the United States and have effectively changed the quality and quantity of resident clinical exposure over a finite training period [1]. Although much has been written regarding the effects of the RDHS on junior-level residents, there remains a paucity of literature on the impact of these work hour restrictions on residents within the subspecialty of cardiothoracic surgery. Therefore, a questionnaire was designed to assess the perceptions of cardiothoracic residents and their program directors regarding the RDHS.

More specifically cardiothoracic residents and program directors were individually surveyed regarding the direct affects of RDHS on patient care, continuity of care, clinical exposure, and the acquisition of clinical accountability and responsibility. Furthermore, the effects of RDHS on quality of life and the reduction of work-related and social stress were also evaluated.

Three hundred eighty-nine cardiothoracic residents and ninety-two cardiothoracic program directors were invited to anonymously respond to a web-based questionnaire hosted on CTSnet.org. One hundred fifty-five residents (40%) and 50 program directors (54%) participated in the study. The mean age of the residents was 35 years (range, 26 to 47 years). One hundred thirty-six males (88%) comprised the majority of residents in the study. The summarized responses of the program directors and residents to the RDHS survey are tabulated in Table 1. Residents ranked how they allocate their typical post-call . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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