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ACGME 80-hour rule and common duty-hour requirements, explained
The ACGME Common Program Requirements (section VI.F) set the clinical and educational work-hour limits that apply to residents in every specialty. Some specialties, like emergency medicine, add stricter rules.
The rules DutyHourCheck checks
- 80 hours a week, averaged over 4 weeks. Clinical and educational work, including in-house call and counted moonlighting, may not exceed 80 hours a week averaged over 4 weeks.
- 1 day in 7 free. Residents get at least 1 day in 7 free of clinical work and required education, averaged over 4 weeks. At-home call cannot be assigned on these days.
- 24 hours continuous, plus up to 4 for transitions. Continuous scheduled work may not exceed 24 hours. Up to 4 more hours may be used for patient safety, handoffs and education, with no new patients.
- 8 hours off between periods. Residents should have 8 hours off between scheduled work and education periods.
- 14 hours off after 24-hour call. After 24 hours of in-house call, residents must have at least 14 hours free.
This is a plain-language summary, not the requirement text. Your specialty, program and GME office may set stricter local rules, and they are the authority.
Check your own schedule
Open DutyHourCheck, choose ACGME Common Program Requirements, and paste your schedule or the calendar link your scheduler gives you. The check runs in your browser, and the full single-schedule audit is free.
Find your scheduler's calendar link
- ShiftAdmin
- QGenda
- Amion
- Lightning Bolt (PerfectServe)
- TigerConnect Physician Scheduling
- MedHub
- New Innovations
Other rule sets
Not an official ACGME tool. This page summarizes the ACGME requirements in plain language as a planning aid. It isn't legal or compliance advice. The current ACGME requirements, your program and your GME office are the authority. DutyHourCheck isn't affiliated with the ACGME or any scheduling vendor.