Medical residency is the final stretch of the higher education marathon required to become a practicing physician in the United States. Even in the best of times, residency is notorious for its grueling hours, low wages, and a culture that discourages trainees from demanding better conditions. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the already arduous position became all the more dangerous and distressing. The New Yorker tells the story of Nicholus Warstadt, an NYU Langone Health Hospital resident who was “redirected from a pediatrics emergency room to a COVID-19 respiratory unit.” Warstadt was one of the hundreds of NYU residents that signed onto a petition requesting increased life insurance, disability insurance,…