Abolishment of 24-Hour Continuous Medical Call Duty in Quebec: A Quality of Life Survey of General Surgical Residents Following Implementation of the New Work-Hour Restrictions

BackgroundThe implementation of work hour restrictions across North America have resulted in decreased levels of self injury and medical errors for Residents. An arbitration ruling in Quebec has led to further curtailment of work hours beyond that proposed by the ACGME. This may threaten Resident quality of life and in turn decrease the educational quality of surgical residency training.MethodsWe administered a quality of life questionnaire with an integrated education quality assessment tool to all General Surgery residents training at McGill 6 months after the work hour restrictions.ResultsAcross several strata respondents reveal a decreased sense of educational quality and quality of life.ConclusionsThe arbitration argued that work- hour restrictions would be necessary to improve quality of life for trainees and hence improve patient safety. Results from this study demonstrate the exact opposite in a large majority of respondents, who report a poorer quality of life and a self-reported inability on their part to provide continuous and safe patient care.