Student Work Hours
AMA-MSS Applauds Plans For Medical Student Work Hour Standards
In February of 2004, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) added an annotation regarding student work hour regulations to its Accreditation Standards. It can be found under ED-38 and reads:
In addition to monitoring the amount of classroom time and examination frequency, attention should be paid to the hours that medical students work during the clinical years and the educational value of their clinical activities. Student duty hours should be set taking into account the effects of fatigue and sleep deprivation on learning and patient care. In general, medical students should not be required to work longer hours than residents.
The AMA-MSS applauds the LCME for this change and encourages every student to notify his or her school’s administration of the new suggestions. While this annotation marks the first step in improving the training and educational environment for medical students, it fails to provide specific hour requirements to protect medical students. The AMA-MSS remains concerned that without clear and enforceable work hour reform, students will continue to work in excess of 80 hours per week.
MSS Resolution 16 (I-03), Medical Student Clinical Training and Education Condition, asked the AMA to encourage LCME to follow the lead of the ACGME (the body governing Graduate Medical Education) and include specific limits on the workload of students during our clinical years in its Accreditation Standards. Namely, the resolution calls for an 80-hour work week, a 24-hour limit on shifts, and call no more than once every three nights. As Resolution 310 (A-04) in the AMA HOD, this resolution was referred to the AMA’s Council on Medical Education (CME) at the Annual Meeting in Chicago, and a report is expected back at I-04 this winter in Atlanta.
The AMA-MSS remains strongly committed to student work hours reform, and will continue to lobby in every available circuit until medical students across the country are effectively and uniformly protected.
Please tell us your story: The AMA-MSS is documenting medical student work hour concerns and evaluating the effectiveness of standards as they develop. We appreciate your feedback and will maintain your confidentiality. Feel free to write whatever you wish, but answers to the following questions will be most helpful:
Does your medical school comply with the new LCME standards? How many hours per week did you work in your most recent rotation? How long were your shifts? Were you forced to take call more than once every three nights? Do you have any experiences with severe sleep deprivation?
Policies
AMA-Medical Student Section Policies on Student Work Hours
