Well, my fourth year of med school I did basically the same things, with the same responsibilities for the same number of hours as I did my first year of residency....and paid tuition for the privilege.
Residency (and the 4th year of med school?) is cheap labor for American hospitals, coupled with brutal working conditions - ACGME's 80 hour work week restrictions were winked at throughout my training, and I suspect still are a lot. Making decisions after being on your feet 30+ hours is pretty much like making decisions drunk - not sure that four years of that was optimal for anybody, particularly patients.
And yeah, we had "protected time" for didactics in residency - it was there that most of us developed the ability to fall asleep instantly.
Residency (and the 4th year of med school?) is cheap labor for American hospitals, coupled with brutal working conditions - ACGME's 80 hour work week restrictions were winked at throughout my training, and I suspect still are a lot. Making decisions after being on your feet 30+ hours is pretty much like making decisions drunk - not sure that four years of that was optimal for anybody, particularly patients.
And yeah, we had "protected time" for didactics in residency - it was there that most of us developed the ability to fall asleep instantly.