Question 1

What are the most common ACGME duty hour violations in residency programs?

Accepted Answer

The most common ACGME duty hour violations involve exceeding the 80-hour weekly work limit, failing to provide minimum 10-hour rest periods between shifts, and violating the 24-hour maximum continuous duty cap. Programs also frequently encounter violations when moonlighting hours are not counted toward the weekly total or when subspecialty-specific rules are inadvertently overlooked. Manual scheduling processes are especially prone to these errors because compliance is checked after a schedule is built rather than enforced during construction.

Question 2

How does Scheduling Wizard prevent ACGME duty hour violations?

Accepted Answer

Scheduling Wizard prevents ACGME duty hour violations by enforcing compliance rules mathematically at schedule generation time through a proprietary optimization engine. Rather than producing a schedule and then checking it against duty hour rules, the engine treats every ACGME regulation as a hard constraint that the schedule must satisfy before it is delivered. Subspecialty-specific rules are built into the engine, so programs receive a finished, compliant schedule without any manual checking required.

Question 3

What happens if a duty hour violation is found after a schedule is published?

Accepted Answer

If a duty hour violation is identified after a schedule is published, the affected portion of the schedule must be revised and redistributed, which can disrupt the entire program. Scheduling Wizard addresses this upstream by building compliance into the schedule at creation time. For mid-year changes that introduce new constraints, the engine can re-optimize affected portions of the schedule without requiring a full rebuild.

Question 4

Does Scheduling Wizard know the ACGME rules for my specific subspecialty?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Subspecialty-specific ACGME duty hour rules are built into Scheduling Wizard's optimization engine. ACGME compliance is the most common question asked during onboarding, and the service is designed to handle the nuances that vary across residency and fellowship programs. Programs should communicate their specific requirements during the constraint submission process so the engine can apply the correct rules for their specialty.

Question 5

How are schedules delivered and can we use them with Amion or QGenda?

Accepted Answer

Schedules are delivered as ready-to-use Excel spreadsheets. Many Scheduling Wizard clients upload these finished files directly into Amion or QGenda for day-to-day viewing and access. Scheduling Wizard handles the schedule creation and optimization, while your existing viewing platform handles display. There is no new software for your program to learn or operate.

Question 6

Who is responsible for scheduling when chief residents rotate annually?

Accepted Answer

This is a common source of compliance risk. When a chief resident rotates out, institutional knowledge about scheduling rules, constraints, and past decisions typically leaves with them. Scheduling Wizard retains all program-specific constraints and ACGME rules on its end, so incoming chiefs inherit a working, compliant system rather than rebuilding from scratch each year.

Eliminate ACGME Duty Hour Violations for Good

Manual Scheduling Puts Programs at Risk

Violations Discovered After Publishing

Subspecialty Rules Are Easy to Miss

New Chiefs Restart From Zero

Built to Prevent Duty Hour Violations

Violations Prevented at Generation Time

Done For You Scheduling Delivery

Compliance Knowledge Persists Year Over Year

Every Program Rule Captured Precisely

Scheduling Conflicts Caught Before Publishing

Frequently Asked Questions

Stop Risking Violations on Every Schedule