01Latest · Evidence
Does losing sleep actually make you a worse operator?
Post-call, orthopedic residents measurably lose skill on a simulator — but patient outcomes across programs did not move. And the best reason to sleep is not damage at all.
- After a 24-hour shift, orthopedic residents scored measurably worse on an arthroscopy simulator.
- Across 138,691 patients, looser duty-hour limits made no difference to death or serious complications.
- The stronger reason to protect your sleep is not damage — it is that sleep is when a new skill sticks.