As debate rages at home regarding the uneasy relationship between the restriction on trainees’ working hours, on-call patterns and the goals and outcomes of plastic surgery training programmes, it is interesting to read of similar concerns across the Atlantic. This article briefly discusses recent changes in the national standards for resident duty hours and describes the conclusions drawn from a survey of almost 30% of all plastic surgery residents in the US. There is a heavy emphasis on the impact of conducting on calls from home rather than in hospital, which is largely standard practice amongst the UK registrar tier. Nonetheless it’s interesting to contrast our own experiences with the system in the USA where working hours and shift patterns are still considerably more onerous than our own.
USA resident working patterns and on-call
Reviewed by Patrick Addison
Duty hours and home call: the experience of plastic surgery residents and fellows.
