What is IR schedule and call like?

[Warped Apostle]

Could someone who has done an IR rotation or is practicing describe what their rotation schedule and their call is like? Specifically nights and weekends?

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[GoPelicans]

It's busy, depending on where you were you can come in on call quite often. It's not a good lifestyle specialty. Probably slightly better than surgery.

 

[Tiger100]

If you want to do high end procedures, then it is similar to surgery.

 

[irwarrior]

Call can be pretty busy. Bleeding (gi bleeds, hemoptysis, epistaxis, trauma bleeds, Hematuria etc), infections (diverticular abscess, cholecystectomy tubes for gallbladder disease, nephrostomy tubes for infected renal collecting system, empyema , post operative abscess) and ischemic events (strokes , DVT/PE, acute limb ischemia, acute mesenteric ischemia , clotted dialysis access). Inpatients also need lines, g tubes, chest tubes , biopsies etc.

 

[Warped Apostle]

Thank you for the great responses. Could you give more specifics about the your schedule? Is it in house or home call? If it is home call how many times do you come in on average and what is the range? How long are you on call for (q2,q3,qweek). Are there post call days?

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

huge variety man. Ive met some ir attending who cover entire weeks at a time, every 5 weeks and barely get called and ive met some q3 nightly guys who are super busy. I think thats the great thing about this field, whatever youre looking for is out there

 

[nimbus]

Call can be pretty busy. Bleeding (gi bleeds, hemoptysis, epistaxis, trauma bleeds, Hematuria etc), infections (diverticular abscess, cholecystectomy tubes for gallbladder disease, nephrostomy tubes for infected renal collecting system, empyema , post operative abscess) and ischemic events (strokes , DVT/PE, acute limb ischemia, acute mesenteric ischemia , clotted dialysis access). Inpatients also need lines, g tubes, chest tubes , biopsies etc.

Ours do all of the above plus TEVAR/EVAR. Super busy and also kind of a dumping ground for the rest of the hospital. They take q3 home call and come in often. I’m anesthesia and we get called to IR a lot on weekends and after hours. Upside is that they are a real asset to the hospital and the community.

 

[JRY6788]

Call is highly dependent on your practice, hospital(s) you provide coverage for, as well as the expertise of other call-oriented specialties like vascular surgery, urology, etc...As mentioned above, this leads to significant variation depending on each specific circumstance. I've seen people take jobs with zero call or weekend coverage, and on the flip side I know other people taking q3 weekly call with frequent overnight emergent procedures. Don't let potential call responsibilities sway you one way or the other, as you have much more control over this when determining what practice to join. More than likely it will be your particular interests and skillset as an IR attending that determine the frequency and nature of your call schedule.

It's also worth mentioning that many if not all IR attendings have basically ZERO diagnostic radiology call responsibilities, which is incredible!! At many institutions (at least those without night hawks) DR call can be relentless, and although I'm biased, on average DR call is significantly busier than IR call. Take everything you read/hear with a grain of salt, and most importantly, if you're actually interested in IR, don't let the fear of call dissuade you (it's half the fun!).