I agree with Tired on both sides of the equation here. Residents are not famous for their perspective on the continuum of the medical field, nor should they be -- it is an incredibly strenuous but transient period of the physician career arc. Stepping into their world out of context is a multidimensional culture shock that is likely to raise far more questions than answers. People go into medicine because they want to do the jobs that attendings do for 20-30 years, not because they want to be a PGY-2 general surgery resident assigned to the private service for the next 3 months, coming off night float last week and oh, man, my wife is pregnant and how can we afford to keep living in Midtown...
Those residency experiences are very real, and shape the personal story of every physician that passes through the crucible, but the act of taking a peek into their world to see some "crazy resident stuff" is probably going to do you a disservice. Also, real talk, residents are just trying to keep their heads above water much of the time -- a burnt cup of coffee on top of 4 admissions during short-call is enough to send many over the edge and into heaving sobs in the bathroom stall. Having an MS3 around is enough of a burden, let alone an eager student, regardless of how conscientious and earnest they may be.
If you are interested in seeing some serious medical stuff, then I would seek out some shifts in the Emergency Department. Seeing a few trauma codes (run by residents for the most part, at least until the bedside thoracotomy!) might give you what you're looking for, without diving in to the internecine world of residency. Medicine is amazing, but like anything, asking the right person at the wrong time could leave a very lasting but ultimately misleading impression.
