Newswise — (CHICAGO): An informational video produced by the American College of Surgeons and American Board of Surgery was released today regarding the FIRST Trial (Flexibility In duty hour Requirements for Surgical Trainees Trial).
This three-minute summary video, “The FIRST Trial,” provides an overview of how the trial was conducted and explains the study’s key findings that less restrictive, more flexible duty hours for surgical residents are safe for patients, reduce patient handoffs, and lead to greater resident satisfaction and better continuity of care. For the trial, 95 percent of the eligible general surgery residency programs in the U.S. (117 of 124) participated, representing 151 hospitals. Data on patient outcomes was collected from these hospitals using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®).
The video features commentary by the trial’s Principal Investigator, Karl Bilimoria, MD, FACS, director of the Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and a Faculty Scholar at the American College of Surgeons; Frank R. Lewis, MD, FACS, Executive Director of the America Board of Surgery, Philadelphia; and David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, Executive Director of the American College of Surgeons, Chicago.
The FIRST Trial is the first-ever national multicenter randomized trial of resident duty hour policies. It received funding and support from the American Board of Surgery, the American College of Surgeons, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Study results were released online Tuesday, February 2, in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented concurrently before the 2016 Academic Surgical Congress in Jacksonville, Florida.
Yesterday the Resident and Associate Society of the American College of Surgeons expressed strong support for the Trial’s findings, saying it “firmly believes that flexibility in duty hours is not only safely possible, it is essential to provide surgical residents with exposure to the variety and complexity of educational experiences necessary to become fully trained and competent surgeons.”
For more information, visit: www.facs.org/media/FIRST-trial, and http://absurgery.org/default.jsp?news_trial0216
About the American College of SurgeonsThe American College of Surgeons (www.facs.org) is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 80,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world
About the American Board of SurgeryThe American Board of Surgery (www.absurgery.org) is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1937 for the purpose of certifying individuals who have met a defined standard of education, training and knowledge in the field of surgery. Surgeons certified by the ABS have completed at least five years of surgical training following medical school and successfully completed a written and oral examination process administered by the ABS. They must then maintain their board certification through ongoing learning and practice improvement activities. It is one of the 24 member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties.
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