Effects of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education work hour restrictions on medical student experience.
BACKGROUND
Residents have a major role in teaching students, yet little has been written about the effects of resident work hour restrictions on medical student education.


OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to determine the effects of resident work hour restrictions on medical student education.


METHODS
We compared student responses pre work hour restrictions with those completed post work hour restrictions.


METHODS
Students on required Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Pediatric clerkships at the University of Minnesota.


METHODS
Two thousand eight hundred twenty-five student responses on end-of-clerkship surveys.


RESULTS
Students reported 1.6 more hours per week of teaching by residents (95%CI 0.8-2.6) in the post work hours era. Students' ratings of the overall quality of their teaching on the ward did not change appreciably, 0.05 points' decline on a 5-point scale (P = .05). Like the residents, students worked fewer hours per week (avg. 1.5 hours less, 95%CI 0.4-2.6). There was no change in quality or quantity of attending teaching, students' relationships with their patients, or the overall value of the clerkships.


CONCLUSIONS
Whereas resident duty hour restrictions at our institution have had minimal effect on students' ratings of the overall teaching quality, they do report being taught more by their residents. This may be a factor of decreased resident fatigue or an increased sense of well-being; but more study is needed to clarify the causes of our observations.
Nixon
L James
LJ
Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Medical School, 420 Delaware St SE, MMC 741, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. nixon007@umn.edu
Benson
Bradley J
BJ
Rogers
Tyson B
TB
Sick
Brian T
BT
Miller
Wesley J
WJ
D000068:Accreditation; D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D003625:Data Collection; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000592:standards*; D008910:Minnesota; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000592:standards*; D013337:Students, Medical; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D016526:Workload / Q000592:standards*