Sandeep Jauhar, M.D., writes in The New York Times about the exhausting life of medical interns:
“Of course, we must end the exploitation of interns and residents by teaching hospitals. Hospitals should hire more physician assistants to relieve young doctors of the routine work and heavy patient loads with which they are still burdened. Residency directors should give interns more research opportunities to foster scholarship so that postgraduate training doesn’t devolve into mere vocational instruction.
“But rigid work-hour limits are not the answer to the ills of internship. In trying to get interns a bit more rest, we may have come up with a cure that is worse than the disease.”