Working conditions for doctors are also front-loaded with uncommon misery...
And residency programs violate the newer, kinder hour restrictions that are currently in place left and right, because what are the residents going to do? They're afraid to file reports because anything that is traced back to them could mean their career is over before it began (while they're still saddled with six-figure debt). And they feel a duty to their patients.
This is anecdote and tangential to the topic, but my general surgery residency was very strict on not allowing work-hour violations since we could anonymously report them to the governing bodies. Some of the specific restrictions were ridiculous and they have been loosened for practical reasons. I was paid ~ $15/hr in residency, closer to $30/hr in fellowship now. It still sucked being on call for up to 28 hours at a time. The longest time I stayed awake without any naps was 24 hours (5am to 5am the next day - people kept getting shot that Saturday). Now I can theoretically get called any time of day or night during the weekday, but rarely need to drive in. I remember my friend, who was an Army Ranger before going to medical school, said to me: "Hey, at least none of our patients are trying to shoot us".
Work-hour violations are common in my wife's (non-surgical) residency and others at her school; it's an accepted part of the culture. There's a common doubt, especially in smaller programs, that anonymous reporting would actually remain anonymous, although I think that's only part of what helps preserve the status quo. She and a friend calculated that during intern year, factoring in their actual hours, they earned around minimum wage. Now, in fellowship, it's $30/hr on paper, and closer to $20 if she accounts for her actual hours.
At the conclusion of her 30-hour shifts we used to talk briefly while she ate and showered before bed. Her measure of whether a shift had gone smoothly took into account whether she'd been asleep at 4:00 am and if anyone had thrown anything at her or anyone else in the ED. Abe, I'm glad things are calmer for you these days. The physical and mental stamina required for any kind of sleepless 24-hour stretch of work, but especially one spent operating, is extremely impressive.
To bring things back to the original topic, sometimes I look at the alternative medicine social media pages my aunts belong to. They regularly share bogus graphics claiming that naturopaths and chiropractors receive much more in the way of education and training than MDs and DOs. (Where is all of this hands-on training happening? Maybe in Mitchell and Webb's homeopathic ER, if anyone remembers that skit.) The claims are easily debunked, but the reality is sobering.
One examination found that the entirety of "N.D. clinical education involving primary responsibility for assessing and treating patients is the equivalent of as little as 10 days of real-world family practice. Even being extremely generous, and counting all 450 'patient interactions,' that's 20 days in a family practitioner's office."
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/twenty-days-in-primary-care-practice-or-naturopathic-residency/In another piece, a former naturopath documents the course of her education and training and concludes:
"I think it is quite apparent that the 561 hours of what I calculated to be 'direct patient contact' in clinical training are nothing of the sort that would instill confidence in anyone that naturopathic education can produce competent primary care physicians."
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/nd-confession-part-1-clinical-training-inside-and-out/There aren't adequate words to explain how absurd it is to compare that to the clinical training of MDs and DOs. Equally nonsensical claims are made about didactic hours and pharmacology.
That former naturopath is now being sued by a "naturopathic oncologist." (There is no such thing.) If anyone reads even one of the links in this post, this one about the self-styled oncologist will make your jaw drop:
https://respectfulinsolence.com/2017/09/07/a-naturopathic-cancer-quack-tries-to-silence-criticism-with-legal-thuggery/
