Ask, But Don’t Tell

In January 2007, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), which oversees medical residency programs in the US, began conducting its annual survey of residents and fellows on the compliance of programs to the standards set by the accreditation body. The confidential survey, which will be conducted until June, will take place in roughly half of the country’s residency programs. The ACGME views the survey as an important “diagnostic tool,” but to people seriously concerned about resident work hours, the survey serves as an annual reminder of the ACGME’s inability to enforce its own requirements regarding work hours.

The survey’s