Residents on Call
General Structure
Diagnostic call:
The diagnostic call structure for A and B call shifts is defined by 2-week blocks comprised of night float and swing shift performed in the Emergency Department (ED) reading room:
- Night float: 7 nights, Saturday-Friday, with the following weekend off
- Swing shift: 5 evenings, Monday-Friday, with the following weekend off
Hours:
- Night Float:
- 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays
- 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekends
- Swing shift:
- 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays only
- Weekend daytime:
- 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. hours are covered by a different pair of residents than those on the night float rotation
Attending coverage:
24-hour in-house attending coverage of the ED reading room, with faculty on call backup available in all subspecialties.
Procedural (CT/ultrasound procedures) call:
Residents take after-hours home pager call for image-guided procedural consults in conjunction with supervising interventional and procedural attendings for 1-week blocks at a time when on the Procedures rotation. Procedures are supervised by the on-call procedural attending.
Distribution:
All diagnostic (DR) and interventional radiology (IR) residents participate equally in responsibilities during the first through third years of radiology residency given the integrated nature of the programs.
First Year: Diagnostic Buddy Call
Structure: Beginning in the second half of their first year of radiology, junior residents begin buddy call shifts in the ED reading room along with the A-call and B-call residents as well as the ED radiologists. Typical hours are 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Primary Responsibilities: Dictating preliminary dictations with direct supervision by ED radiology staff, triaging phone consults, and assisting with other tasks such as patient consents.
Second Year: Diagnostic A-call
Structure: Night float/swing shift block, as described above.
Primary Responsibilities: Interpreting plain film and ultrasound studies as well as triaging phone consults.
Third Year: Diagnostic B-call
Structure: Night float/swing shift block, as described above.
Primary Responsibilities: Interpretation of cross-sectional studies as well as assisting and mentoring the A-call resident.
Fourth and Fifth Year: Interventional Radiology Call
During IR rotations in the PGY-5 year and throughout the PGY-6 chief year, IR residents are in the Interventional Radiology call pool. This is at-home pager call, and is taken in conjunction with covering IR consults. It is taken in blocks of Monday to Thursday, or Friday to Sunday. These residents handle all calls and consults pertaining to the vascular IR service. The resident is paired with an on-call IR attending. Residents come in to the hospital to work up consults, round on patients and perform procedures with direct supervision from on-call IR faculty.
