I hate to point this out, but 80 hrs/wk for interns isn't really that bad. Surgical interns in the US have been known to work 120 hrs in a week. It's a universal problem.
The difference is, in any civilized country, it doesn't cost you your house to pay for health care. Paying for health care effectively makes your salary much less when you realize that you have to save just in case you have a health problem (even if you have insurance, since they're notoriously reluctant to shell out anything, and certainly never immediately).
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I hate to point this out, but 80 hrs/wk for interns isn't really that bad. Surgical interns in the US have been known to work 120 hrs in a week. It's a universal problem.
The difference is, in any civilized country, it doesn't cost you your house to pay for health care. Paying for health care effectively makes your salary much less when you realize that you have to save just in case you have a health problem (even if you have insurance, since they're notoriously reluctant to shell out anything, and certainly never immediately).