Research Article A EWTD Compliant Rotation Schedule Which Protects Elective Training Opportunities Is Safe and Provides Sufficient Exposure to Emergency General Surgery: A Prospective Study

Copyright © 2015 Andrew Emmanuel et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction. Training opportunities have decreased dramatically since the introduction of the European Working Time Directive (EWTD). In order to maximise training we introduced a rotation schedule in which registrars do not work night shifts and elective training opportunities are protected. We aimed to determine the safety and effectiveness of this EWTD compliant rotation schedule in achieving exposure of trainees to acute general surgical admissions and operations. Methods. A prospective study of consecutive emergency surgical admissions over a 6-month period. Exposure to acute admissions and operative procedures an