(December 2, 2008)—Despite some limits on the number of hours doctors-in-training work, a new report finds the medical students still aren’t getting enough sleep.
The findings come five years after a medical board first tried to cap hours that bleary-eyed medical students work, limiting them to about 80 hours a week.
Tuesday, the Institute of Medicine says the workload should be eased further so that anyone working a maximum 30-hour shift gets an uninterrupted five-hour break for sleep after 16 hours.
In some ways, the long hours comes with the territory.
Doctors can't just clock out if a patient is in danger.
But sleep deprivation fogs the brain, which can lead to serious medical mistakes.
Other recommendations include increasing mandatory days off and requiring experienced physicians to more closely supervise medical residents.
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