• Syed Khalid Ahmed Ashrafi, Siraj-Ul-Haque Shaikh, and Sahar Zubair Abbasi.
• Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
• J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2024 Feb 1; 34 (2): 217221217-221.

ObjectiveTo determine the optimum working hours per week for CPSP trainees of Fellowship Programmes in the disciplines of General Surgery and General Medicine.Study DesignMixed-methods, explanatory study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of General Medicine and Department of General Surgery, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi, from February to August 2023.MethodologyThe total number of subjects included were 33 residents, 7 supervisors (4 from General Medicine and 3 from Geneneral Surgery), and 3 hospital managers (from private sector), constituting a representative sample. Postgraduate trainees (PGTs) of third-and fourth-year FCPS training programme who showed willingness to participate were included as were all supervisors and hospital managers involved in the training programme. FCPS residents, who were not willing, on leave, and on rotation to other departments were excluded, as were PGTs enrolled in university and other programmes. For quantitative analysis, survey forms were distributed to the selected participants. For qualitative analysis, one-to-one interviews were conducted in-person and through video-link. Data collection procedure included distribution by hand and via email. SPSS was used for the data analysis.ResultsAll residents recorded that duty stress, fatigue, and burnout resulted in poor quality of family and social life. All the stakeholders were convinced that acquisition of skills, learning outcomes, and patient safety with optimum care is compromised. The duration of emergency calls varied from 30 to 36 hours. There were 19 out of 33 residents (57.5%) who recommended 24 hours of rest after each emergency call. All the supervisors recommended six to eight daily duty hours and 66 to 90 weekly working hours. Four out of seven supervisors (57.1%) suggested emergency duty of 30 hours with post-call rest of 24 hours at every 3rd  day.ConclusionThere is a need for a comprehensive approach that caters to the patient care as well as learning outcomes and residents' well-being when devising the duty schedules.Key WordsTraining hours, Fellowship programme, Fatigue, Learning outcomes.

17 keywords...

hide…