Evaluation of medical intern work hours in Senegal

Abstract Background: in many countries, medical intern work hours have been discussed for a long time and many schedules has been modified in order to improve it. In our country, this topic has never been studied. Methods: It was a cross sectional study including all resident regardless of their specialties. An online questionnaire was shared to all the members of the Senegalese association of medical Interns. Results: Overall, 102 answers were collected. The average age was 28.3 years. More than half of the resident stated that they stay at hospital more than eight hours a day. Besides, 83,5 % declared doing more than 40 hours a week. In addition, 37,2 % of resident said that they were “on call” between 4 and 8 times monthly and 15,1% were “on call” more than 8 times per month. We have seen an average of 55,7 hours with up to eighty hours extremes. Conclusion: Medical intern work hours is a good subject of discussion, in such an under developed country like ours.