ACGME Reintroduces 24-Hour Shifts for First-Year Residents in Coming Academic Year

​First-year residents will again be permitted to work shifts of up to 24 hours in the 2017–2018 academic year, an increase from the current 16-hour limit, according to new standards issued by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). ACGME first proposed the rule in the fall (see the November 6, 2016, HRC Alerts), responding to arguments that residents should experience "real patient care settings for the situations they will encounter after graduation." Four hours can be added to the 24-hour shift, "to manage necessary care transitions," part of what ACGME describes as "optimizing the quality of care transitions and hand-offs."