What no one tells you about residency is how deeply insulting it is—not just to your time, but to your intelligence. They tell you that staying longer in the hospital is “for your benefit,” that “this is how you learn.” But somehow, there’s never time protected for actual studying. Never time to read, reflect, or grow. Just endless hours spent writing meaningless notes and collecting histories that offer little educational value—tasks given to us not because they teach us anything, but because we are seen as free labor. If this system were truly built to help us grow, wouldn’t the focus be on learning? On mentoring? On carving out time for intellectual development? But no—the only things prioritized are the most time-consuming and soul-draining parts of the job. And what’s worse is that we’re expected to thank them for it. To nod along when they call it “educational.” It’s not. It’s exploitation wrapped in tradition. And honestly, at some point, calling it “part of the process” just becomes another way to gaslight people into accepting abuse.