I realized I never really understood what this meant. I'm personally looking into ENT, Cardiology, Ophthalmology, and many have warned me that the former two have "a lot of call." Does this mean a lot of overnight shifts? Does the definition of call differ depending on what type of practice have? Would appreciate some clarification on this, thanks!
What does it mean when a specialty has "low call"?
- Thread starter KaratCake
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Call means being "on call" in case of emergency, or you're the person who gets called when a patient needs something. exact details may vary by specialty, location, and practice set up
"home call" is when you get to go about your usual business outside the hospital, but are prepared to come in if needed. "in house call" means you have to be at/very very near the hospital. this is all in addition to your usual daily clinical duties.
For ENT for example, you might be on call for if someone comes into the emergency room with some kind of head or neck trauma/foreign body/etc requiring emergent evaluation and/or surgery. This would include overnight/outside of business hours. how often you have to take call varies
"home call" is when you get to go about your usual business outside the hospital, but are prepared to come in if needed. "in house call" means you have to be at/very very near the hospital. this is all in addition to your usual daily clinical duties.
For ENT for example, you might be on call for if someone comes into the emergency room with some kind of head or neck trauma/foreign body/etc requiring emergent evaluation and/or surgery. This would include overnight/outside of business hours. how often you have to take call varies
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Honestly first find something you really enjoy. I’m not certain about ENT, but I am pretty sure Ophthalmology and Cardiology (very different fields) have gigs without having to take emergency call.
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FWIW, I'm in peds endocrine. My call is purely home call--I don't have to ever go into the hospital after hours because I don't admit patients to my own service--they are on the hospitalist team with me as a consultant (note that this isn't the case everywhere). So, I answer questions from other healthcare team members and am available after hours if my patients have urgent questions they aren't sure how to deal with--largely patients with diabetes who we are trying to keep out of the hospital.
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Im ENT. It depends on your practice setting. If you have to cover airway you'd have to live close to the hospital or be in house but it is very, very rare to have to do that as an attending. Usually you have residents to deal with stuff like that if you're at an academic center, or the hospital has gen surg/ICU/anesthesia take care of that. Your practice can have zero ED/hospital call, or you can be on call every x days for the hospital (which you may or may not get paid for depending on your contract). Most ENTs do not do in-hospital overnight shifts.
I'm on call q4 and do not do airway so I almost never come in overnight - everything waits until the next day. With rare exceptions.
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