Night call in U.S. radiology residency programs

We acquired information about resident call in radiology programs throughout the United States to allow programs to compare themselves with others and to learn of possible alternate approaches to similar clinical and educational needs.

A 30-question survey was mailed to the program directors of all accredited U.S. radiology residency programs. A second mailing was sent to program directors who did not respond within 3 months. The survey addressed questions of the timing of call during residency training, the frequency of call, the nature of the call experience, and the relation to fellow and faculty call. Questions regarding available technical assistance, resident clinical activities postcall, faculty review of oncall studies, and other relevant issues were included.

One hundred sixty-six of 206 (81%) of the program directors responded. The amount and type of call taken by radiology residents was highly variable in different programs. The mean number of in-house call days per month was 2.9 (SD = 2.6), 3.3 (SD = 2.2), 2.4 (SD = 1.9), and 1.3 (SD = 1.6) for first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year residents, respectively. The nature of technical and fellow/faculty assistance available to the resident was also variable.

Night call in U.S. radiology residency programs is variable but tends to be concentrated in the second year of residency. Fourth-year residents take less call than other residents, especially close to the time of the written and oral board examinations. Although program directors were satisfied with many aspects of their call systems, most indicated at least one major change they would like to make.