In Reply: Were the Good Old Days Better?

Abstract

In the obvious belief that privation is good for the soul, Dr Vadakan wants a return to the "school of hard knocks." All that is missing is a call for hair shirts and cold showers. In fact, Dr Vadakan's residency program sounds plush to me. At Boston Children's Hospital, where I trained, we did not get paid at all. I attempted to point out in my article that, although we complained mightily, the "scut work," which Vadakan describes, was more satisfying than the blizzard of clerical work that confronts current housestaff. Another large difference is that the patient problems they now face are infinitely more complex than the ones we dealt with "in the old days."