Qualifications for moonlighting:

1. Texas Medical License- The resident must be an independent licensed physician with the state of Texas.
2. Malpractice Insurance – The resident must obtain malpractice coverage for any moonlighting position acceptable to PHD.
3. Signed approval from the Program Director.

Restrictions:

1. The trainee may not moonlight during rotations requiring in-house call, for example, ward rotations or ICU, nor may he or she moonlight when taking call from home during subspecialty rotations.
2. Trainees must comply with work hour regulations prescribed by the ACGME which count moonlighting hours along with hours worked for residency training. Trainees may not exceed 80 hours of total work averaged in a 4-week interval, may not exceed 30 hours of work consecutively and must have a least 10 hours off between shifts.
3. The resident must receive approval from the Program Director or Associate Program Director and must register his/her moonlighting hours with the Program Director or Associate Program Director.
4. The number of moonlighting shifts trainees may work applies to a Rotation Month, NOT a true Calendar Month. The ACGME does calculations for work hours in a 4-week intervals. Hence, if a trainee works 79 hours per week over a 4-week period, s/he may work a total of 316 hours in this period.
5. For Elective Months, 40 hours of work per week is what is assumed for residency responsiblities, amounting to a total of 160 hours worked on the elective in a 4-week period of time. Hence, 316 hours of total work time minus 160 hours for residency responsibilities on an elective leaves 156 hours available for moonlighting in a 4-week period of time. Divided into 12-hour moonlighting shifts, this equals a maximum of 13 shifts in a 4-week time period. If a trainee spends more than 40 hours on an elective per week, fewer shifts are allowed. For example, if a trainee works 46 hours a week on the elective, rather than 40, the maximum number of 12-hour moonlighting shifts is 11, not 13.
6. If a trainee takes 5 days of vacation on an elective, then only 120 hours are subtracted from 316, assuming 40 hours worked by week, so a trainee may moonlight 196 hours over the 4-week period of time, giving an additional 3 12-hour shifts or a maximum total of 16 shifts.
7. Abuse of moonlighting that affects performance, attendance, and/or participation in the residency training program will result in withdrawal of moonlighting privileges for an indefinite period of time as determined by The Program Director and/or Associate Program Director. As well, The Program Direction may revoke moonlighting privileges from any trainee whose performance becomes marginal or unsatisfactory.