Moonlighting: What Residents Do in Their Free Time Is Their Decision

Available data do not support the claim that moonlighting, or employment outside psychiatric residency programs, is a dangerous activity for residents, patients, or employers of moonlighters. Moonlighting may beneficially supplement the education of a psychiatric resident as well as be important to residents economically. The author contends that the role of psychiatric educators is to assure the competence of graduates of psychiatric residency programs to practice psychiatry. How residents use their free time is their own concern, not the concern of psychiatric educators, as long as residents fulfill their educational and training responsibilities.