Achieving Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education duty hours compliance within advanced surgical training: a simulation-based feasibility assessment.

Background: Certain operative cases occur unpredictably and/or have long operative times, creating a conflict between Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) rules and adequate training experience.

Methods: A ProModel-based simulation was developed based on historical data. Probabilistic distributions of operative time calculated and combined with an ACGME compliant call schedule.

Results: For the advanced surgical cases modeled (cardiothoracic transplants), 80-hour violations were 6.07% and the minimum number of days off was violated 22.50%. There was a 36% chance of failure to fulfill any (either heart or lung) minimum case requirement despite adequate volume.

Conclusions: The variable nature of emergency cases inevitably leads to work hour violations under ACGME regulations. Unpredictable cases mandate higher operative volume to ensure achievement of adequate caseloads. Publically available simulation technology provides a valuable avenue to identify adequacy of case volumes for trainees in both the elective and emergency setting.