Guidline for Thai Physician’s Work Time Regulation

Abstract

To get a guideline of the limiting worktime of Thai physicians, we reviewed previous studies of Thai Medical Council in physician’s working time and from other countries. We obtained an interview with a hundred physicians and gave the conclusion to the Development of Public Health Service and Physician’s Quality of Life Committee under the auspice of Thai Medical Council to determine. The consensus was seven items as followed:

1) The working hour should not exceed 80 hours./week.
2) The rest day should be at least 2 days/week.
3) The continuous working hour should not be exceed 16 hours.
4) The rest hour must be at least 8 hours after 24 hours continuous working time.
5) The night working hour should not be exceed 7 intervals/month.
6) The average time for one general out patient visit is 5 minutes/visit (12 patients/hours)
7) The physicians who are older than 50 years should quit night working time.

The conclusion could be proposed being a guideline of physician’s work time regulation for Thai Medical Council to declare.