Again, you're missing the root cause. If the problem is not enough doctors to meet patients' needs then why don't MDs and NPs work a little more so the burden doesn't fall entirely on med students? Or conversely, extend med school another year so that everyone gets the same number of hours but it's spread out over more time. Worst case, I would still prefer to be seen by a resident working 6x16 hour shifts rather than 4x24 hour shifts.
Basically what you're saying is that the system is so broken that the best care relies on young adults fresh out of college working in a condition that has been shown to be just as bad as being legally drunk. I'm saying that, if that is the case today, we need to fix the system.
There is no burden of patient care placed on medical students in the US. Medical students start clinical duties their 3rd and 4th years of medical school but have little to no actual responsibility. They are not allowed to write orders or perform procedures without resident supervision. Their primary role is to learn. Don't get me wrong, they are very useful and can help a ton doing small tasks and collecting information.
The argument returns to a lack of man power. There are simply not enough residents for us to work 40 hours a week and get 8 hours of sleep a night. Call that broken, or what you want, that's just how it is.
Basically what you're saying is that the system is so broken that the best care relies on young adults fresh out of college working in a condition that has been shown to be just as bad as being legally drunk. I'm saying that, if that is the case today, we need to fix the system.