The Pulse: At the Heart of Health, Science and Innovation

Hour 2 of Radio Times is pre-empted for the WHYY Health and Science special, THE PULSE.

Residency has been described as the ultimate, the final trial in medical training. Ask any older doc to recall their residency training, and you’ll hear stories about working around the clock, and sleeping in the hospital for weeks at a time. But – residency isn’t quite as grueling anymore. The rules were changed, first in 2003, and then again in 2011, capping work hours per week at 80, and limiting the amounts of hours per hospital shift. This came as part of a broader effort to reduce medical errors, the thinking was that exhausted, overworked and fairly inexperienced doctors were more likely to make mistakes. Some doctors are concerned about the changes, fearing that today’s residents are not getting enough training.

On this edition of “The Pulse”, we discuss residency with two Jefferson University Hospital residents, Dr. Ellen Plumb and Dr. Kanani Titchen who talk about their work, schedules, and how they are experiencing their training. We’ll also hear from Dr. David Paskin vice dean of the medical college at Jefferson University Hospital.

Sticking with the theme of trials, we’ll also revisit a trial that changed clinical trials, we’ll hear about some shaky statistics in scientific trials, and visit an inventor who won’t give up trying.