Atul Gawande, the former surgeon general, in his book

[Yuguang]

Atul Gawande, the former surgeon general, in his book, The Checklist Manifesto, argues that doctors could use the same sort of checklists as pilots and greatly reduce the number of medical errors, saving both money and lives.

A) Atul Gawande, the former surgeon general, in his book, The Checklist Manifesto, argues that doctors could use the same sort of checklists as pilots and greatly reduce the number of medical errors, saving both

B) Atul Gawande, the former surgeon general, argues in his book, The Checklist Manifesto, that doctors could use the same sort of checklists that pilots do to greatly reduce the number of medical errors, saving both

C) Former surgeon general Atul Gawande argues in his book, The Checklist Manifesto, that doctors could use the same sort of checklists as pilots, greatly reducing the number of medical errors, saving

D) Former surgeon general Atul Gawande argues in his book, The Checklist Manifesto, that doctors could use the same sort of checklists that pilots do to greatly reduce the number of medical errors, both saving

E) In his book, The Checklist Manifesto, former surgeon general Atul Gawande argues that doctors could use the same sort of checklists that pilots use to greatly reduce the number of medical errors, saving

Hi instructor, I think "the same... as" is idiomatic and "the same... that" is not. Could you please explain why the latter usage works here? Thanks

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

The idiom "the same X that Y [does]" is fine. Clearly, we need an action here, we can't just compare nouns. The problem with the comparison in answer A above is that it's ambiguous: it's not clear that the pilots also use checklists. The word 'do' in answer B is a marker that we need to check; here it clarifies the sentence so that we're comparing two actions.

[Yuguang]

Got it. I think it's fine to say "the same way that XX do or the same way as XX do". Thank you !

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

You're welcome.

[pm_0103]

Hello Instructors

COuld you please let me know why B is preferred to E. IMO, both of them express same meaning. I am not able to understand the OE given to eliminate option E :
"The same sort of checklists that pilots use to greatly reduce the number of medical errors sounds as though the pilots use their checklists to reduce medical errors."

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

There are two reasons why B is preferable to E, and they are both pretty small ones. First, in answer B the phrase 'saving both money and time' is used. This emphasizes the benefits of checklists in a way that answer E doesn't. A pretty small reason, I admit.

The second, bigger reason, is the one stated in the official explanation: "The same sort of checklists that pilots use to greatly reduce the number of medical errors sounds as though the pilots use their checklists to reduce medical errors."

Consider these examples:
(1) Vamsee wears the same trainers I do to run faster.
(2) Vamsee wears the same trainers I wear to run faster.

The first sentence shows that Vamsee is the one who wants to run faster. In the second sentence it seems that I wear these trainers to run faster, not Vamsee. Actually, I'd say that the second example isn't great because the meaning is unclear. It's a pretty subtle difference in meaning, but it's the kind of thing to watch out for in high level SC problems.

[BhavyaM918]

Why is C incorrect?
The use of check lists helps to reduce errors (described by -ing verb) and as result of reduction of errors, money and lives are saved (described by -ing verb)

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

I think there's a problem with stacking two "comma -ing" modifiers one after the other. Although you're right that a "comma -ing" modifier can show the result of an action, we usually use it for an unintended or indirect result, rather than for an aim. To take an example, this sentence might sound odd: 'I went to the shops, buying some bread.' Buying bread was not simply a result of going to the shops, it was your aim. It would be better to write 'I went to the shops to buy some bread.' Applying that to the problem above, reducing errors is not simply a result, it's the whole point of using the checklists.

However, I think this issue is more difficult than the comparison issue in C. It's unclear what the phrase 'the same sort of checklists as pilots' is comparing - what's the same as what?