The problem with that solution is that so many hospitals are already in pretty serious debt, and unfortunately, it does cost quite a lot to train residents. Limiting the hours of work that residents give, limiting their tuition, increasing their pay, and extending their training period will only add to already sky-high costs, and has no tangible benefit for the teaching institution. Except happier residents.

I think the solution is to simply accept more residents. Honestly, there are plenty of well-qualified medical students, and even more well-qualified pre-med students who aren’t getting into medical school in the first place. Although the institution might lose some money by training a few extra residents, it should allow for greater coverage (potentially lessening the amount of error due to shift changes), and maybe ensure everyone a few hours of sleep.

That being said, it’s pretty clear that I do think these restrictions are a good thing, or will be in the long-run. Even if residents do get a bit of a wake up call when it comes time to practice, it makes sense not to completely overwhelm during training – when errors are already pretty likely.

What you are advocating is abandonment of professionalism if you happen to think your reasons are good enough. As it happens, yours is not the only morally defensible position to take, whether you have a family or not. And what exactly justifies the idea that your family “should come first,” besides bald assertion? Please explain what philosophical verity makes that the case. Or is that your foundation?

1. make residency a 40hr a week job
2. double the length of residency training in years
3. narrow the salary gap between residents and attendings (pay residents more and attendings less so that there isn’t such a huge jump in pay once you graduate)
4. make a medical education cost little to no money so one comes out the other end with minimal debt
5. eliminate the potential to “lose it all” in a lawsuit
6. restore the public’s respect for physicians

there. you have a profession that is respected and pays reasonably well but perhaps somewhat less than before in exchange for not graduating in 6-figure debt, not having to worry about a catastrophic lawsuit, and the career is more of a continuum rather than a limited years of torture followed by a lifetime of being “set.”

now excuse me while i wait for hell to freeze over in the meanwhile.