The reason this piece was not specific enough for some peoples' tastes is because it was intended for the general public, not medical professionals. It was interesting to hear this kind of story on a nationally syndicated radio program, because it is a good indication that changes are occuring in medical training programs. It is good for the public to know what medical training is really like, and that the kind of hours residents work are attrocious. As a soon-to-be resident, I feel that the public is one of our strongest allies in our struggle to be treated like people with lives outside of medicine.
The general surgery program at my medical school already employs some PAs to take care of the "scut". Their work consists of doing pre-op physicals, taking care of discharge planning, signing medication refills etc. It is nice for the residents, and it actually really helps the medical students as well, because much of this is scut that we would be helping out with as well. However, it is still not enough. The residents still work well over 100 hours a week.