Implementing the 2009 IOM Recommendations on Resident Physician Work Hours, Supervision, and Safety

Long working hours and sleep deprivation have been a facet of physician training in the US since the advent of the modern residency system. However, the scientific evidence linking fatigue with deficits in human performance, accidents and errors in industries from aeronautics to medicine, nuclear power, and transportation has mounted over the last 40 years. This evidence has also spawned regulations to help ensure public safety across safety-sensitive industries, with the notable exception of medicine.

Click the PDF icon below to read the entire article published in the Dove Press journal, Nature and Science of Sleep.