I’ll offer a different perspective than the people above. I don’t think you need to be sleep deprived or over worked to become an amazing physician. Just because this is what we may be used to, doesn’t mean it is right.
I, like you, also value my sleep very much. If I don’t get at least 7 (preferably 8), I don’t feel well during the day. That’s why when I was interviewing at Internal Medicine programs last year, I always asked what their schedules were like. I was lucky enough to find a program that does absolutely ZERO 24 hour shifts for the entirety of residency (the longest schedule shift we have is actually 14 hours). I’m 10 months into residency now, and I am happy to say that I have had at least 7 hours of sleep every single night.
This is just one of the few reasons that I ranked this program above the more “prestigious” institutions I interviewed at. I’m telling you this because there are programs out there that actually care about their residents and make actual changes to directly impact the “wellness” of residents instead of just saying they care about wellness. When you are interviewing, don’t be afraid to ask questions about scheduling, golden weekends, benefits, etc. Ask if the program is receptive to feedback, snd ask for specific examples. Residency should be hard, but it should not be miserable.
I do agree with certain fields comes particular scheduling (like the above mentioned scheduling inconsistencies with EM). But look around - maybe there are programs now that have you do certain shifts together instead of constantly having to shift your sleep cycle.