There is an ever-increasing pressure on residents to achieve their educational competencies within a decreased number of hours, raising significant concerns amongst residents across specialties. In order to optimize residents' educational experience, the graduate medical education (GME) community must work to address these concerns.While I agree with Cohen's1 recent statement in Academic Medicine that labor unions can be confrontational, I also note that the University of Michigan House Officers Association has effectively lobbied to improve residents' work conditions and thus enrich their educational experience.2 Despite the fact that many residents see the benefit of labor unions, most residents acknowledge their unique roles as both students and employees. Many residents also agree that they have professional responsibilities that distinguish them from the labor community at large. Nonetheless, as academic medicine is confronted with profound fiscal and administrative challenges, there is a need for increasing residents' influence in matters relating to GME governance on both institutional and national levels.
展开▼
