Yeah, residency programs are extremely expensive to run -- most of the work they do is duplicative, especially for 1st & 2nd year students. You're essentially paying multiple doctors a little money to follow doctors who make a lot of money around. They do cover overnight shifts, but they still need to be supervised by 'real' physicians so there aren't really any savings. Vox did a good summary of the whole situation last year;

https://www.vox.com/22989930/residency-match-physician-docto...