Residency and practice hours in ENT

[Anatomist]

I've heard all kinds of horror stories about residency programs making residents work up to 110 to 120 hours per week (still in 2006) in general surgery and most of those sub-specialties (although the actual reported hours for the programs may only be 80 by doing some questionable accounting of hours or pressuring residents to report lower hours).

What's the scoop on hours for ENT? I'm looking for hours during residency and afterwards. Do the hours vary by year of residency? Are there any/most/few/no programs that actually follow the 80-hour guidelines?

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[neutropeniaboy]

I've heard all kinds of horror stories about residency programs making residents work up to 110 to 120 hours per week (still in 2006) in general surgery and most of those sub-specialties (although the actual reported hours for the programs may only be 80 by doing some questionable accounting of hours or pressuring residents to report lower hours).

What's the scoop on hours for ENT? I'm looking for hours during residency and afterwards. Do the hours vary by year of residency? Are there any/most/few/no programs that actually follow the 80-hour guidelines?

This is almost obvious: it varies.

In my program, even before the 80 hour rule, junior residents worked 80-90 hours weekly with q 2-3 call. Now that the 80 hour work week is in effect, it's about the same. As a chief, when not on call, I probably work 60 hours per week. When on call, it's about 70-80. I do back-up home call.

 

[resxn]

There is some pressure to report hours under the 80 hour workweek restrictions, but for the most part I don't think you're under reporting by 20 or 30 hours. I graduated from residency in 2005 and so I did have some experience with no work hour restrictions. Prior to that point, while I was in my internship on cardiovascular surgery I did work 130 hours a week going 40 on, 8 off, 40 on and so forth. But even in my first year of ENT residency I would say I did not work more than a 100 hours ever, typically I was right around 80-90. By the time I became a senior resident I would say I averaged between 60 and 80 hours a week max depending on the rotation. I was involved in a study to assess how work our restrictions changed residency programs in otolaryngology across the country in 2004. Although everything was fairly new at that point, it did not seem that most residency programs were drastically affected by the 80 hour workweek. Rather they were more affected by the 24-hour period. Residents who were on call the previous night sometimes missed good cases because they were forced to go home by the work hour restrictions.

 

[TheThroat]

Rather they were more affected by the 24-hour period. Residents who were on call the previous night sometimes missed good cases because they were forced to go home by the work hour restrictions.

This is what I saw pretty often in our program as well. Going home early post call is nice in the short-term, but if you miss a cool case, you are losing out in the long term.