Times Higher Education: ‘No educational advantage’ from gruelling intern shifts

“Trainee doctors obtain no educational advantage by working for more than 24 hours at a stretch but their instructors say relatively fleeting 16-hour shifts leave them ill-equipped for the real world. A US study has revealed starkly divided opinions about the extraordinarily long work sessions endured by many medical trainees, with interns bitterly opposed to them but their supervisors fiercely supportive. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, explored a long-standing debate about medical training in the country. Rules governing interns have reduced shifts from up to 36 hours at the turn of the century to 16 hours under current regulations, according to the University of Pennsylvania, which participated in the study… …’The residents are telling us something and programme directors should listen carefully,’ said principal investigator David Asch. ‘Educating young physicians is critically important to health care, but it isn’t the only thing that matters.'”

Read more at Times Higher Education.