Frequently Asked Questions

1. I have a concern. How can I bring it to leadership's attention?

There are multiple avenues for this:

• Chief residents & chief pager:

  • Urgent matters, backup needs, and sick callout: Page the on-call Chief Pager @ 352-413-0016

    • Call the pager # and enter your callback number at ANY time of day or night

    • Sick call outs/backup needs MUST go through the chief pager

    • Do not call, text, or email one of us or the chief gmail.

  • Formal/official matters: Email us at gatorchiefs@gmail.com OR our individual GatorMail UF Medicine email addresses

    • Please allow up to 2 business days for an email response

      • If the matter is time sensitive, always feel free to page us :)

  • Informal/unofficial matters: Feel free to just shoot us a text

  • Our doors are always open, but we may not always be physically in our office:

    • Megan & Alyssa: 4th Floor Medicine Admin Office

    • Jordan: 3rd Floor VA Medicine Admin Office

    • Mitchell: 5th Floor near the B elevators (kinda hard to find, shoot me a text if needed)

• New innovation faculty / co-resident surveys

• Lunch with the chiefs (LWTC): We plan to have these on average 1x/month. These are sessions that only residents + chief residents attend where we can discuss current events, updates, and talk about concerns/ideas in a casual setting.

• Housestaff Advisory Council (HAC): Monthly meeting with PD, APDs, Chiefs, and HAC representatives from each class. Anonymous feedback is submitted to your class representative via the monthly HAC Survey sent out before these meetings. We take this feedback seriously and do our best to resolve any concerns.

• UF IM Anonymous Feedback Form: Find this at the bottom of this page and every page on this UF IM website

  • We are notified of submissions and will respond to them ASAP

• UF Graduate Medical Education (GME) website: submit anonymous feedback

2. I am sick or have a family emergency! Who do I contact about missing work?

Page the on-call Chief Pager @ 352-413-0016

• • • As mentioned above, CALL the pager # and enter your callback number at ANY time of day or night

    • Sick call outs/backup needs MUST go through the chief pager

    • Do not call, text, or email one of us or the chief gmail.

3. How do I get coverage for special/life events during residency?

Email co-interns/residents who are on elective, ambulatory, bridge, or QI (Click here for 2025-2026 Master Schedule)

• Once you find someone who is willing to cover you, email the chief gmail (gatorchiefs@gmail.com) and please CC the person covering for you

• Switches may not conflict with continuity clinic, Friday night crosscover, or backup responsibilities

• You will then need to pay the covering resident back by covering them at some point later in the year when you are on elective, ambulatory, bridge, or QI (although favors with no payback are always nice if agreed upon by both parties). Keep in mind that requests <60 days in advance may not be considered. 

4. What is the level of supervision required for procedures for housestaff?

This info should be found on the UF Health Bridge --> Care --> Nursing --> Quick Links (bottom right) --> Level of Supervision of Required for Housestaff

5. When should I take Step 3?

You will need to complete it during your intern year.

• Most residents choose to schedule this during an Elective block or during their Ambulatory month.

  • These options allow us and you maximal flexibility as far as the test dates you are able to schedule, while not tapping into our backup pool

• You could also choose to do this during QI or Vacation, but we do want you to unwind from the stresses of residency during these breaks, so this isn't ideal

• You will not be excused from continuity clinic or other required clinical duties to take Step 3, so please plan accordingly as above. 

• If you reschedule your Step 3 test date for any reason, please email the chiefs at the above email and Jenika Christmas at Jenika.Christmas@medicine.ufl.edu.

6. When do I take my ABIM Internal Medicine Board exam?

• August following PGY-3 year, typically only 4-6 dates are offered nationally

• Sign up typically starts January of PGY-3 year.

7. How do I get in contact with the different team rooms?

• Highly recommend using On-Call Finder to see exactly who is on at Shands (seniors, interns, etc.) and speak to them directly should you need to

• Please see the below document (some numbers may be out of date unfortunately)