Every time I talk to someone familiar with medical residency here in the US I hear something knew that shocks me. For those not familiar, residency is basically a multi-year apprenticeship after medical school that you need to do in order to complete your medical training. The federal government pays institutions about $140k (iirc) to train residents, in return the residents get around $60k and do a ton of the day-to-day doctoring work in a hospital. A few years ago a law was passed that they could "only" work 80 hours a week, but I've heard from multiple people that everyone works more than that and just lies on their time sheet. In order to get a residency you have to fly around to 20-40 different institutions at your own expense and interview, during which you will be asked illegal questions about your relationship status, plans to have children, etc... that your medical school has prepared you for in advance. My sense is that the whole thing is a series of hazing rituals that aspiring doctors feel like they've got to endure, but there's also a huge guilt component to it. Hospitals and other institutions don't have enough residents to do the work that needs to be done at 80 hours per person, and most people go into the field to help people, so they just make the sacrifice over and over. I think it's exploitive and shitty and other countries probably have a better system.