←back to thread

589 points gmays | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.218s | source
Show context
HEmanZ ◴[] No.45773856[source]
I hope that the actual medical field starts taking note of this.

My wife still has to work 24 hour shifts with no sleep, performing emergency surgeries no matter how long it has been since she slept. During residency only a few years ago she and her co-residents were almost weekly required to do 36 hour shifts (on top of their regular 16 hours per day, 5 day per week schedule) and once even a 48 hour shift when the hospital was short staffed.

Of course I’m sure they won’t. No one cares if doctors are over worked.

replies(8): >>45773889 #>>45773957 #>>45774041 #>>45776032 #>>45776905 #>>45777157 #>>45779710 #>>45783253 #
lordnacho ◴[] No.45773889[source]
I've never understood those long shifts. Unless a shift just means you are there but sleeping, what is the reason for allowing it? We don't let truck drivers do 24h shifts, why do doctors the world over seem to do this?
replies(5): >>45773995 #>>45774056 #>>45774388 #>>45775230 #>>45776481 #
1. cma ◴[] No.45775230[source]
The AMA works to prevent importing doctors from other countries, largely to maintain wages, but we don't have enough doctors.

Doctors boards and AGME (partly governed by AMA, but there is some amount of public representation) control residency admissions and board certification. We don't necessarily want low admissions standards, but there is a lot potential conflict of interest in constraining supply.

Some states, I think I read Florida recently, have started pushing back to allow in foreign doctors.