As a current resident, I feel obligated to point out that there have actually been some real improvements in the past 10 years on resident work hours. The most important ones being:
* No more than 80 hours worked in a week (Many surgery residencies previously averaged up to 100.)
* No more than 30 hours in a row (Previously 36 was the standard; 48 was not unheard of.)
* 4 days completely off out of every 4 weeks.
There are some loopholes (e.g. you can stretch the 80 hours to 88 if the time is categorized creatively) and abuses (some programs encourage their residents to under-report time), but I think it's generally a big step in the right direction for patient safety and resident quality of life.
Something to think about: These rules only apply to residents, who are always supervised to at least some extent. They don't apply to attendings (fully boarded doctors). So you won't be treated by a resident who hasn't slept in 72 hours, but if you're in a non-teaching hospital it's still possible that the non-resident doctor treating you there hasn't slept in 72 hours.

Leon, a family friend, died on December 8th and his funeral is being held today. He loved lengthy discussion and bullshit sessions revolving around science and technology and I'm sure is loving it that slashdot is part of his send-off.