Some consider it a rite of passage the medical resident working in a hospital around the clock for days on end.

Friday, May 25, 2001

Some consider it a rite of passage the medical resident working in a hospital around the clock for days on end. It may improve stamina, but it certainly can’t be good for the health of residents or hospital patients. Now medical students, with the support of Public Citizen and others, are petitioning the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to place some limits on their work hours.

The toll is high on residents. Studies have shown that medical residents experience more auto accidents and depression and that pregnant residents have more obstetric complications.

Patients especially need to be concerned. The National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine reports that anywhere from 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur at U.S. hospitals each year because of medical errors. That means medical error outranks traffic accidents or breast cancer or AIDS as a cause of death in the U.S. Although some contend the error estimate is too high, no doubt more mistakes are made when hospital workers are tired.

The Graduate Medical Education Accreditation Council, which provides accreditation to medical education programs, has only broad guidelines about duty hours not being "excessive." Clearly, more specific guidance is needed.