An eighty hour work week is really not that bad. Ask any small business owner. One of the real issuse is in the first year, the intern feels that no one has ever worked so hard, no one knows what she is doing, and no one appreciates her. When I was a chief resident, I knew exactly what the intern was doing. A lot of the time is learning the system and learning to become efficient. Nothing teaches efficiency like being told you can go home Saturday morning after completing ones tasks. You learn to check all the labs and xrays at one time rather than in several trips. You learn to order tests early and make sure the patient is prepped. The eighty hour work week has destroyed continuity of care and ownership of the patients. I worked in the South Bronx and one of my attendings congratulated me because my patient knew my name. Well I had seen her every week for two years. I was vested in her care and trying to get her to make changes for her long term health. More importantly, by knowing her I could pick up changes and problems weeks before a shift worker could. The reason the system has not yet collapes is because the senior residents have a sense of responsibilty, and will not abandon the patient. To that end they falsify their time. All my doc friends joke as to who is going to be trained to take care of us - not so funny any more.

Sent by Jennifer Ellis | 2:35 PM ET | 12-27-2007

I'm ignorant as to why 80+ hours a week are the "norm" for medical interns. Wouldn't it benefit everyone to limit the hours to a mere 40 or 50 per week?

Sent by Rebecca in Portland, OR | 3:23 PM ET | 12-27-2007

What about Peter Pronovast's success with checklists for ICU nurses and doctors. The checklist system works. Read the Dec 10th 2007 New Yorker article The Checklist by Atul Gawande.

Sent by sabrina brennan | 3:32 PM ET | 12-27-2007

My husband recently died of lung cancer. During his hospitalization he was seen by a "hospitalist" who did not know either my husband or me. I feel this "new" specialty is worthless. How is this doctor going to properly treat someone they know nothing about? Our internist passed the hospital patient, my husband, on to this new doctor without so much as a description of who my husband was and how he should be treated. What is happening to the human being that needs more than just book knowledge to be treated?

Sent by Shelley | 3:36 PM ET | 12-27-2007

As a physician, I believe it is a failure of mentorship for interns/residents to feel that they have to "give up their ideals". This should never be the case. There should always be time, as careers evolve, to spend time listening to the patient.

Sent by Alix | 3:37 PM ET | 12-27-2007

My nephew will be attending medical school next year and is looking forward to the experience. I would like to buy this book for him but I don't want to do anything that may dillute or damage his experience. Would you recommend buying this book for him and other students about to enter the profession?

Sent by Evelyn Woo | 3:37 PM ET | 12-27-2007

I completed my internship at Emory in Atlanta 5 years ago..it was the most rewarding experience of my life. We were under the 80 hours/week, and the program made sure we stayed within those hours. The patients we encountered, the comraderie we had with other interns and staff members, and teh stories we shared were like no other year in residency.

Internship for me was the most fruitful year as a doctor fresh out of medical school...the very first day, wearing the long white coat, getting used to nurses and others calling you 'doctor', and having nobody but yourself to go look for answers, was the scariest, albeit one of the most rewarding days of my life.

Sent by Krupali Tejura MD | 5:46 PM ET | 12-27-2007

As a sales representative of surgical products, I spend time in surgery with attendings, residents and interns on a daily basis. I am an outsider on the inside.

From my vantage point, the complexity of treating patients is astounding and sometimes totally overwhelming even to some of the most tenured, talented physicians. It seems to me that 80-hour work weeks are absolutely necessary in order to get these young physicians thru the brutal learning curve that is treating the patient and offering them the best chance at curative or even palliative solutions.

Sent by Jim Best | 11:13 PM ET | 12-28-2007