Do interns and residents learn to transcend fatigue and function effectively?
"Unlike pilots, who have an obvious vested interest in error prevention and usually belong to powerful labor unions that aggressively negotiate on their behalf, residents are a captive population afraid to complainŃor to admit they are exhaustedŃbecause their careers depend on the goodwill of their supervisors, particularly their residency directors. These senior physicians have the power to derail, or even to effectively end, a resident's career with a bad recommendation."
—Washington Post. Interns and residentsŃdoctors in training fresh out of medical schoolŃspend up to 30 hours straight on shift and work as many as 100 hours a week. A report issued 18 months ago showed that as many as 98,000 hostpitalized patients die each year as a result of medical errors.'
