In the last five years, Switzerland, like the U.S., has tried to implement restrictions on the hours surgical residents can work. And, just like in the U.S., residents and surgical consultants both agree that such restrictions do more harm than good for both patients and providers, a new study published in the June issue of the Archives of Surgery concludes.
Since January 2005, Swiss surgical residents have been limited to only 50 hours of work per week, 30 hours less per week than all medical residents in the U.S. are permitted. While the measures were implemented with a goal of improved patient safety in mind, they instead appear to have had the opposite effect in the eyes of residents and consultants.
For example, nearly 63 percent of responding residents and 77 percent of responding consultants said that surgical training suffered as a result of the limitation. Forty-three percent of residents and 70 percent of consultants also believe that the quality of patient care was negatively affected.
"[T]he work hour limitation for surgical residencies in Switzerland appears to be a failure," wrote study author Daniel Oertli, MD, of University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland.
Overall, 52 of 93 surgical departments contacted in Switzerland responded to the survey. Out of a combined 618 surgical residents and consultants, 405 completed the survey.
To learn more:
- read this MedPage Today article
- here's the study's abstract in the Archives of Surgery