Health Buzz: Sleep Breaks for Medical Residents and Other Health News
Report: Hospital Residents Need More Sleep
Residents working in hospitals for the maximum 30-hour shift should get a five-hour break for sleep after working 16 hours, according to a new recommendation from the Institute of Medicine. Five years ago, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education capped the workweek for residents at 80 hours; before that, some residents averaged 110 hours per week, the Associated Press reports. Nationwide, there are about 100,000 medical residents, who spend three to seven years training to work in their respective specialties. The goal in limiting residents' work hours is to balance patient safety with ensuring that the residents receive adequate on-the-job training, the AP says.
U.S. News's Nancy Shute reported on the shortage of primary-care doctors in March. She offers seven tips for finding a doctor.
Deploying the Power of the Teen Brain
Behold the American teenager, a lump in a hoodie who's capable of little more than playing "Grand Theft Auto," raiding the liquor cabinet, and denting the minivan, thanks to a brain so unformed that it's more like a kindergartner's than a grown-up's. That's the message that seemed to emerge from the past decade's neuroscientific discoveries: that the brain, once thought to be virtually complete by age 6, is very much a work in progress during adolescence and not to be trusted. But experts now are realizing that the popular parental response—to coddle teens in an attempt to shield them from every harm—actually may be counterproductive, Nancy Shute reports.
Take a quiz to learn how well you understand the teen brain. In September, Shute listed seven ways teens can learn more without additional studying. In October, she reported that early alcohol use can cause big problems.
Exploring the Causes of Bad Breath
Has a friend or significant other gently hinted that your breath is, um, pungent? Brushing and flossing more diligently may help get rid of halitosis, and U.S. News's Sarah Baldauf offered four steps to fresher breath earlier this year. But a few more minutes at the sink won't always do the trick, experts say. A new exclusive by U.S. News offers eight surprising causes of bad breath, including skipping breakfast, mouth breathing, and drinking alcohol.
Earlier this year, U.S. News offered a guide to a healthy smile, including four critical oral health habits, reports on tooth whitening and 21st century dentistry, and a primer on paying for dental care.
—January W. Payne
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Reader Comments
rest for residents
How can a sane group of Dr.'s think that a new Dr. needs no sleep. Truck drivers are mandated to sleep not drive so they don't kill on the hiways, so should Dr.'s so they don't kill in hospitals.
rest for residents
Let's treat this on a purely logical decision. Would you go out and hire a person to care for your health who has routinely abused his own health by giving up a scientifically proven method of restoration & healing, known as sleep? Would you allow a system that pushes people into unhealthy use of drug supplements to stay awake to dictate your plan for good health, emotional well-being?
Or would you pass by that choice and move on to a person who can guide you along a healthy path because they are on one themselves.
I don't want to see anybody pushed beyond exhaustion for any reason, let alone a person I've chosen to help me look after my health.
Sure, you can say this is an oversimplification - almost everything is. But don't tell me what to do unless you are doing it first for yourself.
Sleep well.
If residents, surgeons, or anyone else needs to work an 80 hour week they can.
But that should *never* include working 30 hour shifts that might only include a catnap or two.
Study after study has found that reflexes, judgment, memory, thought and long-term learning--all these slow down after too long without sleep. There's no way around this. Unless residents are allowed to take Provigil?
There has to be some way to get the math to work out. If they need 15 hour days, then every 48 hours a resident should have 3 separate 5 hour rests (whatever the minimum refresh time is). That gives 15 hours/day without the loss of higher decision-making parts of the brain.
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