Call Schedules

[prominence]

this is a topic that many SDN psych applicants are curious about, but shy to ask about; so i'll bring it up.

1. which psych programs have "cush" call schedules for their psych residents?

2. are there programs where the psych residents dont take call during their internal medicine and neurology rotations?

please reply if u know of psych programs which meet the criteria of either question listed above.

thank you.

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[purpledoc]

this is a topic that many SDN psych applicants are curious about, but shy to ask about; so i'll bring it up.

1. which psych programs have "cush" call schedules for their psych residents?

2. are there programs where the psych residents dont take call during their internal medicine and neurology rotations?

please reply if u know of psych programs which meet the criteria of either question listed above.

thank you.

I have never heard of #2. You wouldn't want that, anyway, because then (1) the other residents would resent you and treat you like crap, and (2) you wouldn't learn as much.

As for #1, just look for two things when considering call. The first thing is to look at the number of residents in the program. Residency programs that have more residents enable you to switch calls more easily, which helps you do call less often on nights you have something else you want or need to do. It also often (but definitely not always) means you have fewer nights on call. The second thing is to look at how dependent the program is on the residents. If there is a shortage of attendings in the hospital and a small number of residents, if even one resident gets sick or drops out of the program, everyone else ends up carrying the load. That can be a hard thing to judge just by looking at the program from the outside, but if you ask the current residents, they can probably clue you in.

Hope this helps,
Purpledoc

 

[Thewonderer]

I did not look into call-schedule at all when I chose a residency program. For one, the various call schedules that different places put out are soooooo confusing that it is impossible to compare them directly. For example, some calls don't start until 5pm while some start in the morning at 8am. Some programs' call schedule change from month to month. In some programs, second years work harder than first years, etc. etc. it is too confusing.

Lastly, I just felt that there are other more important things than the call schedules themselves. For example, do u like the area? do u like the people? do u like the didactics? do u like the hospital? these are, in my opinion, all more important things to consider than the call schedule....

 

[rxg16]

In response to #2:

At Temple, we do ONLY psych call for all of the residency. This means no medicine or neuro call whatsoever. This could be a good thing or bad, depending on your outlook. Also, I know from interviewing there that U of Illinois-Chicago has 3 months or so of medicine where there is no call whatsoever.