UC San Diego Medical Center, Department of Orthopedics designed their first year of residency as a research position in an attempt to combat the problem of fatigued residents. New residents can slowly adjust their new work environment before taking up the standard resident work shifts similar to those found at other schools. The school has not, however, changed the total number of hours residents are required to work, thus resulting in long non-stop shifts for second year residents. New York State has also made an attempt to change the current state of residency programs by instating a law limiting medical residents to 24 hours of work at one time. Interestingly, not a single hospital has complied with the law.
Many doctors feel that there are no other reasonable options.
Paring down the hours that residents work per day is not an option since that would require an extention of the number of years required for training. Doctors already train for approximately 10 years after they enter medical school. Decreasing the number of hours required to train residents may not be an option either since this does not guarantee quality training for future doctors. The lack of options leaves residents with a tradition that is difficult, if not impossible, to change. Training residents to become physicians requires a tremendous amount of exposure to patients.