1.
Statement 1: No. In the last sentence of the Residency Association statement, the president says:
“Such working conditions are dangerous for both patients and residents; some serious mistakes have already been made and were caught only at the last minute by senior staff.”
The residency president, then, believes that the situation is dangerous and that there is at least the possibility of serious consequences from mistakes made by residents.
In the last sentence of the Hospital Board statement, the spokesperson says
“…there is always an experienced physician on hand to verify the diagnosis, take over the procedure, or otherwise correct any potential errors [made by residents].”
The spokesperson, then, believes that there is an oversight system in place that will correct any potential errors—in other words, that there is no danger of lasting harm due to a resident’s mistake. Thus, the spokesperson and the president disagree.
Statement 2: Yes. The Residency Association president explicitly states that residents have averaged 17.5 hours during the past month, so the president does believe that residents are working more than 8 hours during a 24-hour shift. The Hospital Board spokesperson says that residents are not expected to work 24 hours in a 24-hour shift, nor anywhere close to that but also that if a resident chooses to participate in many routine activities that can ably be handled by the nursing or medical staff, that is the resident’s choice. In other words, the spokesperson is acknowledging that it is possible for a resident to work more than 8 hours in a shift—if he or she chooses to do so. The two parties, then, both agree that it is possible for residents to work longer than 8 hours during a 24-hour shift.
Statement 3: No. The Hospital Board spokesperson states clearly that until someone has finished the residency, he or she is not, and cannot reasonably be considered, a licensed physician. The spokesperson, then, believes that residents are not as qualified as licensed physicians.
The Residency Association president states that residents are responsible for all of the licensed physician tasks, including intake, the ordering of tests and labs, diagnosis and treatment, including surgery (emphasis added). This could be taken as evidence that the residency president believes residents are as qualified as licensed physicians. Alternatively, it may be interpreted as not providing any opinion as to whether residents are as qualified. Either way, this is not the same as the spokesperson’s opinion that residents are not as qualified as licensed physicians.
2.
Statement 1: No. The Residency Association president indicates that the residents are assumed to work 1/3 of the 24-hour shift, or 8 hours, but the president does not claim that residents should not work more than that amount. They claim only that they work too much. It can be inferred that they think they should work less than 17.5 hours, but it is unclear what they think of an 8-hour cutoff. Likewise, the Hospital Board never indicates a specific time beyond which residents should not be able to work.
Statement 2: Yes. As part of their argument, the residents complain that their working conditions are dangerous and that, as a result, serious mistakes have been made. It can be inferred, then, that the residents believe that the hospital is responsible for setting reasonable working hours in order to minimize or prevent errors made by residents (among other goals). The Hospital Board indicates that
“…when a resident is called upon to make a diagnosis or perform a minor procedure, there is always an experienced physician on hand to verify the diagnosis, take over the procedure, or otherwise correct any potential errors.”
The board, then, also believes that the hospital is responsible for minimizing or preventing errors made by medical residents.
Statement 3: No. The residents state that they are taken advantage of terribly and complain that they are undermined or treated poorly by senior doctors—sometimes when patients are present. The residents, then, agree with this statement.
You might surmise that any ethical hospital board also would not want doctors to treat medical residents poorly when patients are present (or at any time!), but the Hospital Board’s statement never addresses this aspect of the resident’s complaint. Therefore, nothing can be inferred regarding the board's position on this issue.
3.
According to the first tab, the association president states that residents are assumed to work one-third of the hours in our assigned shifts. If the shift is 24 hours long, then, a resident is assumed to work for one-third of that time, or 8 hours. In that case, the hourly wage would be $105 / 8 hours = $13.125. Rounded to the hundredths digit, this is $13.13.
The resident indicates that the average time worked over the past month was actually 17.5 hours in a 24-hour shift. The hourly wage in this case would be $105 / 17.5 hours = $6.00.
The difference between the two is $13.13 - $6.00 = $7.13.
The correct answer is (E).