Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, Inc.
Institutional Policy
PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to outline the moonlighting requirements for housestaff across all MCWAH Programs.
MOONLIGHTING IN GENERAL
1. Programs must follow the moonlighting standards outlined in the ACGME Common Program Requirements and their Residency Review Committee Specialty-Specific Requirements.
2. In order for a Program to allow its housestaff to moonlight, MCWAH’s Designated Institutional Official (DIO) & Executive Director must first approve the moonlighting request. The Program Director must annually send a letter to the MCWAH’s DIO & Executive Director to request approval of moonlighting in his/her program.
3. PGY1 housestaff are not permitted to moonlight.
4. Housestaff on a J-1 Exchange Visitor visa are not permitted to participate in moonlighting under the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations.
5. Housestaff on an H-1B Temporary Professional Workers visa are permitted to moonlight but there are restrictions for external moonlighting (see External Moonlighting for All Housestaff section below).
6. Only housestaff licensed in Wisconsin are eligible to moonlight.
7. The Program Director may prohibit moonlighting for all housestaff in his/her program.
8. The housestaff must submit a prospective written request to the Program Director for all moonlighting. The request must state the site, duties and the number of hours per month that the housestaff will be working. This request must be filed in the housestaff’s training file.
9. The Program Director must provide written approval for moonlighting. This written approval must be filed in the housestaff’s training file.
10. The housestaff must notify his/her Program Director of any changes in moonlighting (e.g., place, duties, number of hours) and obtain the Program Director's approval for such changes. This approval must be documented in writing and filed in the housestaff's training file.
11. Moonlighting must not interfere with the ability of the housestaff to achieve the goals and objectives of the educational program. The Program Director will monitor housestaff performance and may prohibit or rescind approval of moonlighting if he/she believes that the housestaff's performance in the program suffers, or for any other cause he/she deems appropriate.
12. All moonlighting hours must be counted along with regularly scheduled duty hours. The total number of hours worked must comply with the ACGME duty hour standards.
INTERNAL MOONLIGHTING FOR MCWAH EMPLOYED HOUSESTAFF
1. Internal moonlighting for MCWAH employed housestaff is defined as additional hours worked voluntarily at an affiliated hospital or other provider that are beyond the training program’s regularly scheduled hours. Internal moonlighting hours are considered part of training.
2. A Program Director may not require internal moonlighting.
3. The letter the Program Director sends to MCWAH’s DIO & Executive Director to request approval of internal moonlighting must outline the financial arrangements that have been made with the affiliated hospital or other provider to pay for the extra hours. The DIO & Executive Director will confirm that such financial arrangements have been made.
4. All internal moonlighting performed by MCWAH employed housestaff must be consistent with the scope of practice within the medical classification of their given Graduate Medical Education training program.
5. All internal moonlighting performed by MCWAH employed housestaff must be under the supervision of an attending physician.
6. Internal moonlighting performed by MCWAH employed housestaff is considered to be part of training; therefore, professional liability insurance for medical malpractice is provided by MCWAH.
INTERNAL MOONLIGHTING FOR MCW EMPLOYED HOUSESTAFF
1. For purposes of this policy, internal moonlighting for MCW employed housestaff is defined as additional hours worked voluntarily at an affiliated hospital or other provider that are beyond the training program’s regularly scheduled hours. These hours are considered part of training.
2. MCW employed housestaff are covered for professional liability by MCW.
EXTERNAL MOONLIGHTING FOR ALL HOUSESTAFF
1. For purposes of this policy, external moonlighting means employed work outside of the training program.
2. Housestaff on an H-1B Temporary Professional Workers visa can only participate in external moonlighting if they have an H-1B visa through that sponsor.
3. The housestaff must secure and pay for his/her own professional liability insurance for medical malpractice for all external moonlighting activities. The housestaff is responsible for any other costs related to external moonlighting.
This revised policy was approved by the MCWAH Graduate Medical Education Committee on January 16, 2012. The original policy was approved on April 21, 2003 and revised on August 16, 2010 and July 18, 2011.