Traditional Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship

MAXIMUM HOURS OF CLINICAL AND EDUCATIONAL WORK PER WEEK

• Clinical and educational work hours must be limited to no more than 80 hours per week, averaged over a four-week period, inclusive of all in-house clinical and educational activities, clinical work done from home, and all moonlighting. 
• Clinical work done from home must be counted toward the 80-hour maximum weekly limit. 
• Fellows should have eight hours off between scheduled clinical work and education periods. 
• Fellows must have at least 14 hours free of clinical work and education after 24 hours of in-house call. 
• Fellows must be scheduled for a minimum of one day in seven free of clinical work and required education (when averaged over four weeks). At-home call cannot be assigned on these free days. 
• Reading done in preparation for the following day’s cases, studying, and research done from home do not count towards the 80 hours. 
• Specific circumstances under which fellows may choose to stay at the hospital and/or return to the hospital to care for patients beyond their scheduled time include: 
• A patient on whom a fellow operated/intervened that day who needs to return to the operating room (OR) 
• A patient on whom a fellow operated/intervened that day who requires transfer to an intensive care unit from a lower level of care 
• A patient on whom a fellow operated/intervened that day who is critically unstable 
• A patient on whom a fellow operated/intervened during that hospital admission who needs to return to the OR related to an operation or procedure previously performed by that resident 
• A patient or patient’s family needs to discuss treatment of a critically-ill patient on whom the residents has operated or is responsible for care 
• Clinical and educational work periods for fellows must not exceed 24 hours of continuous scheduled clinical assignments. 
• Up to four hours of additional time may be used for activities related to patient safety, such as providing effective transitions of care, and/or fellow education. 

CLINICAL AND EDUCATIONAL WORK HOUR EXPECTATIONS

• In rare circumstances, after handling off all other responsibilities, a resident, on their own initiative, may elect to remain or return to the clinical site in the following circumstances: 
• To continue to provide care to a single severely ill or unstable patient; 
• Humanistic attention to the needs of a patient or family; 
• To attend unique educational events. 

WORK HOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR FELLOWS

• Each fellow is expected to keep track of his/her work hours every week. Please speak with Shawnda or Dr. Pereira if you are approaching work hour violations and/or believe that you are in non-compliance with work hours.  
• Please use the RESQ APP to track your hours and review them each week.  RESQ will automatically roll your hours into MedHub. 
• If you are approaching a 24-hour shift, please text or call Dr. Pereira and she will coordinate coverage for your service and notify attendings.  
• We want you to safely get home early morning. If you are feeling too fatigued or tired to drive, please let faculty know and we will coordinate a ride home for you. Do not drive home if you are too tired.