A new rule from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education allows first-year resident physicians to work 24-hour shifts, but also ensures they have access to 24-hour mental healthcare, according to KPCC.
The new schedule was implemented in hopes of minimizing patient turnover between physicians and giving first year residents exposure to a realistic physician's schedule. However, with physician burnout already a major concern in the medical community, many are more concerned with the mental health support that will now be guaranteed to residents. Under the new rule, hospitals are now required to give residents 24 hour access to a mental health professional.
"It's a recognition that physicians are human beings, and that we get tired, we get sad, we have problems in our social lives, just the way anyone else does," said Daniel Giang, head of graduate education at Loma Linda University Medical Center in southern California.
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