During her residency in emergency medicine, Archana Shrestha, MD, MS, would fall asleep at stoplights on the drive home after night shifts.

Archana Shrestha, MD, MS

“It happened a few times,” she recalled. “It was scary; I didn’t feel safe driving.” To power through night shifts, Shrestha snuck in 2-hour naps beforehand.

And maybe you’ve heard something like this from a senior physician: “If you see a chair, sit in it. If you see a bed, sleep in it. If you see food, eat it. That’s how you survive residency.”

Elsa Alaswad, MD, now a fourth-year neurology resident at the George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, learned that “rule” from her cardiologist father. She trained herself to sleep when she had the chance. “It was untenable,” she said. “I wanted to quit so

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