The Department of Radiology at MGH is a busy clinical department that offers 24 hour a day, 7 day a week service to our patients and referring physicians. This necessitates resident call to help provide care during off hours - for inpatients, outpatients in offices and satellite urgent care clinics, and the busiest Emergency Room in New England.
Our call schedule is carefully designed to provide this coverage while also providing an important educational setting for residents, helping to build confidence and experience. These experiences build up to coverage of the Emergency Department in a one month Night Float experience that takes place in the middle or second half of the 2nd year of residency.
Highlights
- Because our Department is centered at a single hospital, only one resident is needed to cover the hospital during the overnight hours (10:30pm to 8am), decreasing the number of overnight calls required during the residency
- By the time residents are assigned to overnight call in the 2nd year, they will have trained in all of the major subspecialty areas and feel comfortable with the important decisions that are required of an on-call radiologist
- The total overnight responsibilities in the Emergency Department shift include a 4 week block (5 nights a week) plus 10 additional night shifts - over the course of the entire residency
Call Schedule
Call schedule is divided among different call "pools" that are assigned to each class of residents in turn.
July 1st Year - September 1st Year: Emergency Room Evening Buddy Call
Residents are immediately given the opportunity to learn the basics of the Emergency Room, working with a second year resident. Shifts are between 5:30 and 10pm every 9th or 10th weeknight evening.
October 1st Year - October 2nd Year: Emergency Room Evening
Residents are given the opportunity to learn the basics of the Emergency Room, working with a staff radiologist and fellow in the evening to learn the important categories of acute disease, study selection, patient triage, and consultation in the Emergency Room setting. Shifts are between 5:30 and 10pm every 9th or 10th weeknight evening.
December 1st Year - December 2nd Year: DODD / EW Saturday
Residents are in-house between 8am and 8pm to cover the inpatient intensive care portable films, emergent and postoperative fluoroscopy studies, and abdominal radiographs. When these responsibilities are done, the resident heads to the Emergency Room to provide additional help to the on-call resident and staff. This responsibility rotates among the residents in the class.
March 1st Year - March 2nd Year: CT Weekend N/M Beeper Call
Residents cover inpatient and outpatient CT scans for the thoracic and abdominal imaging sections, reading out with a staff radiologist. Residents protocol the studies in advance and are on hand to provide consultations to referring physicians. The shift typically runs between 8am and 5pm and includes both days of the weekend. This responsibility rotates among the members of the class.
Spring 1st Year - March 3rd Year: Emergency Room Weekend Days
Residents are assigned to cover the Emergency Department between 8am and 8pm, working with staff radiologist and fellows to cover all modalities (including plain film, ultrasound, and CT).
Emergency Room Nights
A four week block of night float (5 nights a week) is scheduled between the middle and end of the 2nd year. This block is an important step in the development of our residents, where they have the opportunity to be the sole radiologist in the hospital and apply the principles they have learned to deal with acute problems encountered in a very busy ER. The overnight night float rotation is scheduled after a four week block of Emergency Room days. A staff radiologist checks all studies reviewed by the resident overnight, with appropriate feedback given to the resident. Although challenging, this rotation builds the confidence and skills of our residents. After this rotation is complete, residents help to cover Friday and Saturday overnight shifts with a total of approximately 10 additional shifts during the course of the residency. Of note, there is an ultrasound technologist in-house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which enables the radiology resident to focus primarily on the intricacies of interpretation.
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