Working hours for medical interns are excessive, say senior doctors

Senior doctors are demanding a review of training for medical interns in Hong Kong, including shorter working hours, after new research showed exhaustion increases the chance of serious diagnostic errors by more than five times.

The issue is of particular concern in Hong Kong because trainee doctors have to work an average of more than 80 hours a week, according to Tony Chung Kwok-hung, associate dean (clinical) of the medical faculty at Chinese University.

In Europe, by contrast, the working hours of medics are limited by the European Working Time Directive to a maximum 58 hours a week with a target of 48 hours by 2009. The directive, introduced in 1998, is legally binding in all EU member states.

According to the October issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, interns who worked long shifts made 36 per cent more serious medical errors in intensive care units than those working normal hours. They also made 5.6 times as many serious diagnostic errors and 21 per cent more serious medication errors.

Professor Chung agreed that working hours for doctors in general, including medical interns, were excessive and that this might cause stress and depression, especially among trainees.

He said there was room to reduce their working hours but believed that trainees should work more than 48 hours to ensure they gained enough clinical experience before becoming doctors.

'I believe that the majority of interns don't mind working hard. As long as they are doing something interesting they feel that they are learning something and developing their profession,' he said.