ACGME Will Ease Residency Scheduling Rules by 2028
Training programs will gain more flexibility in scheduling as mandatory rest periods and shift frequency limits are cut.
Updated on Sept. 30, 2026 in Remote Work
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The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has proposed a 43% reduction in Common Program Requirements that will take effect on July 1, 2028. The shift aims to grant hospitals greater operational flexibility by removing prescriptive scheduling mandates.
Why it matters
The proposal seeks to lower administrative burdens on training programs while shifting responsibility for residency schedules away from centralized mandates. This change signals a broader pivot toward internal program autonomy for managing hospital staffing and resident workflow.
The proposed rules represent a 43% cut to current Common Program Requirements, though the 80-hour average workweek cap remains unchanged. The changes currently face scrutiny from stakeholders, including a union representing 40,000 residents and fellows.
The players
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
A private, non-profit organization that establishes and monitors national accreditation standards for medical residency training programs.
Committee of Interns and Residents
A labor union representing approximately 40,000 resident physicians and fellows across the United States.
The details
The proposal eliminates the current 8-hour rest requirement between shifts and shortens the mandatory post-call rest period from 14 hours to 12 hours. Additionally, programs will no longer be restricted by rules governing night-float frequency or the every-third-night limit for in-house call. By removing these mandates, the ACGME provides individual hospitals the flexibility to design shift patterns that best suit their specific clinical needs and resident volumes.
Timeline
The ACGME released the proposal for public comment in September 2026.
Emergency medicine residency directors stopped collecting feedback on October 1, 2026.
The deadline for submitting public comments to the ACGME passed on October 22, 2026.
The new residency schedule mandates will begin on July 1, 2028.
Market Landscape
This move represents a fundamental departure from the prescriptive nature of the ACGME Common Program Requirements that have governed physician training for years. By shedding 43% of its requirements, the organization is reversing a long-standing trend of increasing oversight in clinical education.
Operators in the healthcare sector should evaluate how these rule changes might impact their resident workforce capacity and staffing costs by 2028. Managers should also monitor internal turnover data as programs shift away from legacy scheduling constraints toward more flexible models.
The takeaway
The move toward flexible residency scheduling is a clear signal that the ACGME intends to reduce the compliance burden for teaching hospitals. Administrators should track these upcoming changes to assess potential shifts in labor allocation and program scheduling strategy ahead of the 2028 implementation.
What happens next
The finalized regulatory changes are scheduled to go into effect for all accredited residency programs on July 1, 2028.
Further reading
For more on evolving professional labor standards, see our coverage of Remote Work.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Medscape.
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