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by edblarney 3468 days ago
You wouldn't want your airline pilot to be sleep deprived so why would you want your doctor to be?

Unless you're a field medic in the army or whatever. No thanks.

2 comments

I'll mention the same thing here that I just did elsewhere in the thread to someone else:

While I agree with you, I have to words: Doctor shortage.

At least in the US, we need more doctors. Many of the doctors with whom my wife works all see dozens of patients every day, leaving them with mere minutes for each of them as it is. A 2-minute turnaround is very common, especially in the internal medicine / family medicine fields. Too many patients, not enough doctors.

I wonder if part of the reason we have a doctor shortage is because people see the inhumane working conditions and decide not to pursue it as a career.
There's a (smallish) surplus of medical school graduates, there are as many people doing residencies as there are residency slots available.
Wouldn't blame them!
Exactly. And it's not just airline pilots. Truck drivers have hours of service rules, too. So do railroad engineers.
I work in a heavy industry in Australia. There is a 16 hour shift limit - after which you are required to take an 8 hour break before you are able to operate any heavy machinery again.

We also have workplace drug and alcohol testing and there are requirements around disclosing any prescription medication you are on.

Operating heavy machinery is no joke but then again neither is being a doctor.