Bill of Rights

Of note: Residents and Fellows have signed onto the ten rights listed below. The original working group which collaborated on writing the bill of rights have also continued to work on a separate preamble to reflect their own views.

In signing the bill of rights, residents and fellows are only signing onto the rights themselves, not the preamble.

The Resident and Fellow Bill of Rights was created to reach 3 major goals:

1. To ensure a training process that is inclusive and humane.
2. To work in a healthcare system that is just and prioritizes the wellbeing of our patients.
3. To uphold our collective power and protect our existing rights.

Right to work conditions that ensure patient safety: We have the right to duty hours, team structures, and on-call responsibilities that allow us to safely care for our patients.
Decisional accountability to the community: As residents, we are also members of this community and have the right to hold our institution accountable. We have the right to ensure decisions that facilitate equitable distribution of our labor and institutional resources.
Right to a diverse, inclusive training environment: Our institution must reflect the diversity in our society and purposefully include trainees and faculty from groups underrepresented in medicine.
Right to respect and equity: Our institution must establish policies to combat workplace discrimination based upon physical, mental, or social differences in order to promote a culture of respect, wellbeing, and opportunity.
Right to supervision and mentorship: We have the right to sufficient supervision to protect patient safety. As the next generation of physicians, we have the right to invested and compassionate mentorship.
Right to fair and balanced evaluation: We have the right to appeal disciplinary actions and educational evaluations through an objective, transparent, and democratic process.
Justice in healthcare: Our training must equip residents to contend with health inequities in order to reduce disparities rather than perpetuate them. We deserve to fully care for all of our patients, regardless of ability to pay.
Right to health: Our institution must promote our health, defined by the WHO as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” We have the right to comprehensive health insurance, including mental health coverage.
Right to a living wage: We have the right to compensation and benefits that are sufficient for ourselves and our loved ones to thrive.
Right to democratic representation: We have the right to represent our interests in the administration of residency programs. We have the right to know how our hospital system makes decisions and allocates resources.

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