The Student AVMA organization has recommended cutting duty hours from a maximum of 80 hours a week to 60.
The Student American Veterinary Medical Association House of Delegates approved the updated guidelines during a meeting in Austin, Texas. Veterinary schools are not obligated to follow the recommendations.
“My goal with these amendments is to represent student needs, spark conversation amongst the AAVMC and veterinary school administrations on how to improve scheduling and the structure of clinical year rotations, as well as shed light on the need to properly assess clinical year students’ well-being,” SAVMA well-being officer Megan Gulsby wrote.
According to the revised guidelines, duty hours should be limited to 60 hours a week, averaged throughout the rotation, and include on-call activities, mandatory class time and clinical duties performed at home.
Other revisions include:
- Adequate rest time was defined as 10 free hours between scheduled duty time.
- Continuous on-site duty should not exceed 16 hours. Should continuous duty on-site span 24 hours, students must have at least a 14-hour break between duty shifts.
- During a 12-hour shift in some clinical rotations, students must take two 30-minute breaks. During eight-hour shifts, they should get at least a 30-minute meal break.
- Students required to be on-site and on call for clinical duties for 24 hours should get 14 hours of rest before the shift.
- Students are responsible for tracking duty hours and alerting supervising faculty about excessive hours.
“SAVMA believes [student] work must be balanced by appropriate levels of support staff and faculty to ensure student well-being,” SAVMA asserted in a statement released with the guidelines. “SAVMA aims for these guidelines to serve as a reliable backbone, in particular for veterinary students on clinical rotations, so they can be aware of the standards their national representation recommends with their health and well-being in mind.”
Details are at bit.ly/46Rbtcf.