Resident work hours in the Times and the "Journal"

The Well blog at the New York Times talked about the new Institute of Medicine study, Resident Duty Hours: Enhancing Sleep, Supervision, and Safety. I'm not likely to read it, but the IOM "asserts that revisions to medical residents' workloads and duty hours are necessary" to protect patients against errors and improve the educational environment.

The comments at the Times blog are to be avoided, as most comments are. Try this New England Journal article instead for a take on the tricky balance between work hours and handoffs. The fewer hours, the more handoffs. And fewer hours, with today's sicker patients, don't mean less work.