Not doing call as a transitional

[Re3iRtH]

Hey all,

I'm a radiology preselect and it seems that with the new work hours in
place, some of us are not getting any overnight call experience, at least
not on the medicine ward. There is a night float system in place.
This somehow seems like a disadvantage and I will not know the "guts" of what it really means to be a doctor and make independent decisions overnight on patients I don't really know.
What are your thoughts guys?

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[smq123]

Hey all,

I'm a radiology preselect and it seems that with the new work hours in
place, some of us are not getting any overnight call experience, at least
not on the medicine ward. There is a night float system in place.
This somehow seems like a disadvantage and I will not know the "guts" of what it really means to be a doctor and make independent decisions overnight on patients I don't really know.
What are your thoughts guys?

They don't make the transitional interns do a month of nightfloat?

 

[Law2Doc]

Hey all,

I'm a radiology preselect and it seems that with the new work hours in
place, some of us are not getting any overnight call experience, at least
not on the medicine ward. There is a night float system in place.
This somehow seems like a disadvantage and I will not know the "guts" of what it really means to be a doctor and make independent decisions overnight on patients I don't really know.
What are your thoughts guys?

Enjoy your year. I agree you could be F'ed in some of the advanced paths later by not having this experience, but you basically have a one year reprieve to worry about that. I suspect you can trade someone for a week of their night float if you really want to get that experience under your wing. I think most of us would just bide the time and get knocked off that bridge when we get there.

 

[Re3iRtH]

They don't make the transitional interns do a month of nightfloat?

Was that sarcastic? But just to add we do a few call evenings a month,
those are until 7pm though, so only a few hours in the evening unless its
a weekend where all the teams can sign out to you at noon

 

[Megalofyia]

Consider no call a blessing. Use the extra time and well rested brain as an opportunity to study and actually remember what you've learned.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Consider no call a blessing. Use the extra time and well rested brain as an opportunity to study and actually remember what you've learned.

 

[Mattchiavelli]

honestly if you were going to go into a specialty with more clinical practice, maybe, but I have heard some good arguments against the prelim year requirements from rads anyway, and I'm not sure how helpful midnight pages about new fevers are going to be for the budding radiologist.

 

[Law2Doc]

honestly if you were going to go into a specialty with more clinical practice, maybe, but I have heard some good arguments against the prelim year requirements from rads anyway, and I'm not sure how helpful midnight pages about new fevers are going to be for the budding radiologist.

The interventional rotations have patients on their services and probably get exactly the same kind of calls.

Most of the advanced paths take call in some form, and there is probably some value to have done it before -- it shapes how you approach things when you have experience being where the buck stops. That being said, you can probably painfully pick this up a year later when you need it.

 

[cowme]

Who cares if you have night float or traditional call? You will have the same amount of total time to be assertive in your decisions about tylenol at 3 AM.

Covering patients that you don't know does not provide any advantage in knowing the "guts" of being a doctor (whatever that means). It only puts you more at risk for hurting someone based on getting a crappy signout.

 

[Law2Doc]

...

Covering patients that you don't know does not provide any advantage in knowing the "guts" of being a doctor (whatever that means). It only puts you more at risk for hurting someone based on getting a crappy signout.

well, you get a lot better at pinning people down on the important stuff after experiencing call and realizing what kinds of things come up and what you really need to know. Sign-out is a two way street, and while there are times when theres nothing you really need to know about some cross cover ptient pending discharge, there are times when experience will get you to ask the pertinent questions.

A lot of being an intern is about making the best decisions you can, without enough information. As such it shapes you in terms of decisiveness, something that directly translates to functions in other fields. Without it, you have the growing pains of always worrying about whether you are doing the right thing to the extent that you can be delayed or paralyzed in your decisions. As such you are simply a different person after call, because you were the person pulling the trigger on decisions on your own.

 

[danielmd06]

Hey all,

I'm a radiology preselect and it seems that with the new work hours in
place, some of us are not getting any overnight call experience, at least
not on the medicine ward. There is a night float system in place.
This somehow seems like a disadvantage and I will not know the "guts" of what it really means to be a doctor and make independent decisions overnight on patients I don't really know.
What are your thoughts guys?

I second the notion that as a radiology resident-to-be you would be fine without the overnight calls (in opposition to more clinically oriented specialties like anesthesia, ophtho, neuro, etc).

If you truly want to experience the on-call vibe, then you can simply volunteer to take a few calls with colleagues that you like or respect or hope to learn alot from. It would be above and beyond the call of duty...but there's nothing wrong with tha!

Good luck to you.