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Duty Hours Exception Request
| Memorandum |
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| To: |
Neurological Surgery Program Directors |
| Subject: |
Duty Hours Exception Request |
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The ACGME has adopted a policy on duty hours which limits resident in-house duty to 80 hours per week averaged over a four-week period. In addition, no “new patient may be accepted” after a 24 hour on call period. This policy became effective July 1, 2003.
Recognizing that learning to be a neurosurgeon requires spending time participating in the operating room under the direct supervision of a faculty member, assisting in the operating room after a 24 hour on call period is not precluded as it is not “accepting a new patient”.
The ACGME has allowed the Neurosurgical RRC the right to grant exceptions to the 80 hour rule amounting to a 10% increase in maximum duty hours, i.e. 88 hours per week.
The RRC will accept requests for such increases based on the following criteria:
- Approval of such request by the institutional Graduate Medical Education Committee;
- Response to previous RRC citations concerning duty hours;
- Educational rationale distinct from service requirements; and
- Evidence of a monitoring program for resident fatigue and a plan for relief of resident duties in the case of fatigue.
The RRC is endeavoring to make the request for duty hours extension process straightforward and will facilitate approval when justified.
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