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On-Call Responsibilities

Residency in Diagnostic Radiology

CALL SCHEDULE / NIGHT FLOAT
Night Float: The resident will take call from 6pm to 8am in two week blocks. Suitable call room facilities are provided within the hospital.  The call schedule will be divided among 2nd through 4th year residents.  Absence of residents because of vacations, unscheduled leave and educational meetings, including AFIP, will be covered by qualified residents.  This will include coverage for senior residents, who will be relieved of call responsibilities six months prior to oral board examinations.

Holiday Call:  Call will be shared equally among all residents on holidays and on any weekends related to these holidays (e.g. the Friday, Saturday and Sunday following Thanksgiving).

ON-CALL RESPONSIBILITIES:
Residents will begin on-call responsibility 12 months after initiation of the radiology residency.  Residents are to inform the front office of their whereabouts while on-call and the page operators must be notified of any changes in the call schedule.  Prompt response to pages is expected.

1st Year Buddy Call:  The first year resident should begin training for call duties after 16 weeks or 4 blocks into residency.  This will be in the form of “buddy call” where the first year resident accompanies a more senior resident to become acquainted with the usual call responsibilities.  The first year resident will be expected to take evening call, Saturday call and overnight call during this time period. Each resident is encouraged to work with varying senior residents and attendings in preparation for call.  The senior resident is expected to review all exams with the 1st year resident before a report is given to the ER or other clinician. The following is a chart of minimum requirements:

Weekday Call: This will be covered by the night float resident.  Weekday call begins at 6:00 p.m. and ends at 8:00 a.m. the following day.  Responsibilities include call report exams, checking sonograms, ER films, and assisting the evening attending radiologist with film reading. The following morning, the resident will review the on call studies with the early a.m. attending radiologist.  At 8:00 am the resident will be excused for the rest of the day, except to attend visiting professor conferences.

Weekend Call:
Friday: This will be covered by the night float resident.  Begins at 6:00 p.m. and ends the following morning at 8:00 a.m.  His/her morning responsibilities will include reading out the ER exams, as well as all sonograms, special procedures and any other exams performed the night before. The resident also will read out any call reports he/she reviewed the preceding night.  The resident is then excused for the remainder of the day.

Saturday: Day Shift: The day shift begins at 8 am and ends at 6:00 pm.  This will be split evenly by the residents not on night float.  First year radiology residents will participate in the day shift seven months Into training. The resident’s responsibilities on Saturday include the GI exams, special procedures and exams as directed by the attending radiologist.  The resident will read out any call reports and all other exams reviewed while on dayshift.  The resident is then excused for the remainder of the day.
Evening Shift:  The evening shift begins at 6 pm and ends after morning readout on Sunday. This will be covered by residents not on night float excluding first year radiology residents.

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Sunday:  The day shift begins at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 6:00 a.m. This will be split evenly by the residents not on night float.  The evening shift begins at 6 pm and ends at 8 am on Monday.  This will be covered by the night float resident. The resident’s Sunday morning responsibilities include any GI exams and special procedures, as well as helping cover early morning sonograms to allow the staff to concentrate on reviewing the films and exams of the Saturday on-call resident.   The resident will then read exams as directed by the attending radiologist.  The following morning, the night float resident will review the ER exams and his/her on call studies with the early a.m. attending radiologist.  Following completion of these exams, the resident will be excused for the rest of the day.

Angiography Call:
Primary angiography call will be provided by the attending physicians.  The on-call resident will be allowed to participate in the examinations as his/her training permits.

Call Room
A call room is assigned to the radiology department for resident on call. This room is equipped with a bed, study area with a desk and view boxes, a PACS station, television, phone and bathroom facilities. The resident library also has a recliner if the resident chooses to sleep within the department.
Meals are provided for the resident on call. Each resident is allotted $11 per call night.
Fourth year residents are exempt from call responsibilities during the last six months of their residency, to prepare for oral board exams.

Visiting Professors

Attendings will provide coverage in the department to allow all residents to attend evening conferences given by visiting professors.

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