Why Surgeons Struggle With Work-Hour Reforms

John D. Mellinger

ISBN 10: 0826501052 / ISBN 13: 9780826501059

Published by Vanderbilt University Press Sep 2026, 2026

About this Item

Neuware - On July 1, 2003, work-hour reforms were enacted nationally for the roughly 129,000 resident physicians in the United States. The reforms limit weekly work hours (a maximum of eighty per week) and in-hospital call (no more than once every three nights), mandate days free of clinical and educational obligations (one day in seven), and regulate other aspects of resident work life. Why Surgeons Struggle with Work-Hour Reforms focuses on general surgeons, a historically long-hour specialty, who fiercely opposed the reforms and are among the least compliant. Why do surgeons struggle with the reforms Why do they continue to work long hours and view the act of doing so as reasonable if not quintessentially professional Although the analysis is situated in the growing scientific literature on the consequences of fatigue, the authors do not adjudicate between the claims of surgeons and reform advocates about the effects of long work hours on patient or provider safety. Rather, the aim is to explore and explain how aspects of the occupational culture of surgeons and the social organization of surgical training and practice interlock to impede the reforms.

Seller Inventory # 9780826501059

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Why Surgeons Struggle With Work-Hour Reforms
• Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press Sep 2026
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0826501052
• ISBN 13: 9780826501059
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 229W x 152H x 13D millimeters 229 millimeters width by 152 millimeters height by 13 millimeters depth
• Weight: 336 grams

About this title

Synopsis

On July 1, 2003, work-hour reforms were enacted nationally for the roughly 129,000 resident physicians in the United States. The reforms limit weekly work hours (a maximum of eighty per week) and in-hospital call (no more than once every three nights), mandate days free of clinical and educational obligations (one day in seven), and regulate other aspects of resident work life.

Why Surgeons Struggle with Work-Hour Reforms focuses on general surgeons, a historically long-hour specialty, who fiercely opposed the reforms and are among the least compliant. Why do surgeons struggle with the reforms? Why do they continue to work long hours and view the act of doing so as reasonable if not quintessentially professional? Although the analysis is situated in the growing scientific literature on the consequences of fatigue, the authors do not adjudicate between the claims of surgeons and reform advocates about the effects of long work hours on patient or provider safety. Rather, the aim is to explore and explain how aspects of the occupational culture of surgeons and the social organization of surgical training and practice interlock to impede the reforms.

About the Author

James E. Coverdill is Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor Department Head in Sociology at the University of Georgia.
 
John D. Mellinger is Professor and Chair, Division of General Surgery, and Vice Chair, Department of Surgery at Southern Illinois University.