Teens are bad drivers (and other astonishing news)

Here

Ok, so that gets the "No shit, Sherlock" award for the day... but the main aspect of the article that I wanted to comment on concerns doctors:

Long hours, especially for doctors in the training phase of their careers, may contribute to the higher accident rate for physicians, said a spokesperson for the American Medical Association. The AMA has not studied physician involvement in auto accidents.

No surprises here either... residents get the absolute shaft, even with the new work-hour guidelines which limit you to an 80-hour week and no more than 36 hours in a row... gee, thanks! I guess it is a lot better than in the not too distant past: I have a orthopod friend who had to work 120 hour weeks during his general surgery year because they were short-handed.

And it doesn't necessarily stop after residency either: certain specialties (e.g. Ob/Gyns) often work insane hours. This is a big reason why you see general surgery, once the holy grail for medical students, rarely fill their slots for new residents, while a previous joked-about specialty like Dermatology is turning into one of the most competitive (9-5 hours are attractive).

I would love to see a break-down by specialty... that would be a real news article. DHP's sister, who is sitting behind DHP as he writes this post, would also like to see a break-down of statistics before and after the new work hour guidelines... I agree (She's peds doc BTW).