Call & Leave Requests

2025-2026 CALL SCHEDULES

GENERAL CALL INFORMATION

All residents participating in RAH rotations are required to contribute to the RAH CICU resident call schedule. Medical students are never scheduled for call.
All call is in-house. Residents scheduled for a full block can expect to be scheduled for call on two weekends. These are typically scheduled as one weekend with Friday and Sunday calls and the other weekend as Saturday call. Residents scheduled for a half block can expect to be scheduled for call on one weekend.
Call schedules are organized and maintained in accordance with guidelines provided in the PARA Resident Physician Agreement. The current agreement can be found here.

CALL SCHEDULE ORGANIZATION

SUBMISSION OF CALL INFORMATION

HOW DO I SUBMIT MY CALL INFORMATION & REQUESTS?

The orientation email contains a link to a Google Form where you will enter your call information and requests. The orientation email will include a submission deadline for the Google Form which will be approximately seven weeks before the block start date.

WHAT INFORMATION WILL I BE ASKED TO SUBMIT?

Confirm your email address, pager number, and home residency program
Provide the identifying number printed on your AHS swipe card (first six digits). You will be granted swipe card access to RAH CICU for the duration of your rotation
Provide information regarding any time you will be away from your scheduled rotation to attend an academic event hosted or scheduled by your home program. This includes your academic full and/or half-day schedule, bootcamps, simulation sessions, rounds, retreats, OSCEs, etc.
Provide your clinic schedule, if applicable
Indicate if you have any formal leave requests. Formal leave requests include Educational Leave, Exam and Study Leave, Vacation Days, Personal Days, etc. More information about formal leaves can be found in PARA Agreement Articles 10 - 22
Indicate if you have any informal requests. Informal requests include days you are specifically requesting to be scheduled for call and days you are specifically requesting to not be scheduled for call. Residents are asked to limit their requests to a maximum of three per block and submit them in order of priority
Indicate if you are scheduled for call on the last weekend of the block immediately preceding the start of your Cardiology rotation. This information helps our call organizer determine which weekends you can be scheduled for in accordance with PARA Article 23.05.c.iii (no more than two consecutive weekends on call)
Indicate if you will be post-call on the first day of your Cardiology rotation
Indicate if you have vacation time or other leave scheduled to start immediately following your Cardiology rotation. This information helps our call organizer determine which weekends you can be scheduled for in accordance with PARA Article 20.05
Indicate if you are a sponsored resident (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE)
Indicate if you are scheduled to start Night Pool immediately following your Cardiology rotation
If the block includes a Named Holiday (PARA Article 21), indicate if you would like to be scheduled for call on the holiday. Residents scheduled for call on a holiday will receive another day off in lieu, scheduled during the same block as the holiday

LEAVE REQUSTS

LEAVE REQUEST PROCESS:

Residents are to submit formal leave requests through the Google Form distributed in the orientation email
The draft schedule is sent to the RAH CICU Director Dr. Brochu for approval
Any leave requests that have been accommodated in the schedule will be forwarded to RAH CICU Director Dr. Brochu for consideration
If a leave request is approved by Dr. Brochu, the Program Coordinator will complete any leave paperwork required by the resident's home program

LEAVE REQUEST GUIDELINES:

Educational Leave and Exam & Study Leave requests take precedence over Personal and Vacation Leave requests
No two residents on the same rotation may have the same day off
For the CICU rotation, at least one junior and one senior resident must be available for patient care every day

CALL SCHEDULE ORGANIZATION INFORMATION

CALL ORGANIZATION GUIDELINES:

Residents on a 28-day rotation can be scheduled for a maximum of seven (7) in-house calls and residents on a 14-day rotation can be scheduled for a maximum of three (3) in-house calls; the maximum may vary based on the number of days in the block and select resident leaves as listed in PARA Article 23.05.a
No resident physician shall be scheduled for in-house call duty on two (2) consecutive days (PARA Article 23.05.b)
A resident physician shall not be required to perform more than four (4) in-house calls in a period of less than ten (10) consecutive days (PARA Article 23.05.e)
No resident physician shall be scheduled for in-house call duty on any portion of more than two (2) weekends out of any four (4) weekends (PARA Article 23.05.c.i)
No resident physician shall be scheduled for any in-house call duty on any portion of more than two (2) consecutive weekends (PARA Article 23.05.c.iii)
Whenever possible, the call organizer will do their best to avoid scheduling a resident for call the day before an academic activity or similar absence from their rotation
Whenever possible, residents scheduled for call on Thursday shall not be scheduled for call on the weekend immediately after
Whenever possible, if a resident has vacation time immediately following their Cardiology rotation, they shall not be scheduled for call on the last weekend of their rotation (PARA Article 20.05)
If a resident will be attending a full day or afternoon clinic, the call organizer will try their best to avoid scheduling the resident for call that day
The call organizers strive to ensure there is at least one junior resident and one senior resident available in CICU for the full day on every day of the block
A weekend refers to the period of time from 1800 hours Friday to 0600 hours Monday (PARA Article 23.04.a). If a Named Holiday (PARA Article 21) falls on a Friday or Monday, the period of time referred to as a weekend will be extended to include the holiday (PARA Article 23.01.b)

CALL SCHEDULE CHANGES

After a call schedule has been organized, it can be challenging to accommodate any further requests.
If a resident is notified of a mandatory program event that requires accommodation in the call schedule, the Program Coordinator will work with the residents to make any necessary schedule changes to accommodate the leave. The Cardiology Lead Residents and Cardiology staff may also assist.
If a resident has a leave request that is not mandatory for their academic program, the resident is welcome to engineer a call swap with one of their colleagues. If both parties agree to the swap, they are welcome to submit their request to the Program Coordinator for consideration.
The Program Coordinator is responsible for ensuring Switchboard is notified of all call schedule changes that occur during weekday business hours between 0700 - 1500 hrs. Any call schedule changes that occur outside of regular weekday business hours or in the Program Coordinator's absence are to be submitted directly to RAH Switchboard/Locating. The Program Coordinator must be notified of all changes to ensure the call schedule is updated accordingly.

BLOCK 7 & WINTER BREAK

BLOCK 7 & WINTER BREAK GUIDELINES:

Residents will receive six (6) consecutive days off duty with pay between December 20 and January 5 in lieu of Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day
Residents will not receive any additional time off in lieu of Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day provided they have received their six (6) consecutive days off
When possible, residents shall not be scheduled for on-call service the day preceding the six (6) consecutive days off
A resident may request that the six (6) consecutive days off duty be scheduled at another time to accommodate the observance of an alternative religious holiday. The request shall be made by the resident to their home Program Director by August 1 of each year
Winter Break and Alternate Religious Holiday guidelines are covered in PARA Agreement Articles 21.03 & 21.04

WINTER BREAK SCHEDULING:

Residents will receive the orientation email for Block 7 around the beginning of Block 4, approximately 13 weeks before the Block 7 start date. The email will contain a link to a Google Form where you will enter your call information and requests including your proposed Winter Break dates
Residents are to select between two scheduling options for their six (6) consecutive days off. For the 2025-26 academic year, the two options are:
- Option 1: Dec 23 - 28, 2025
- Option 2: Dec 30, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026
Residents observing Winter Break in Block 7 are not permitted any additional leaves

OTHER CALL INFORMATION

POST-CALL REMINDER

CALL STIPENDS

Post-call residents are expected to write notes on their patients and give accurate and complete sign-over before leaving the hospital in accordance with PARA Agreement Article 23.05.d:
"In the interest of safe patient care and respect for personal safety, well-being, and the educational requirements of the Resident Physician, sign-over of patient-care responsibilities and pertinent patient information shall begin no later than the twenty-fourth (24th) consecutive hour on duty. Apart from handover of patient-care responsibilities, no Resident Physician shall be required to assume new responsibilities following the twenty-fourth (24th) hour of duty. Such handover shall not exceed two (2) hours."

The Adult Cardiology Program Coordinator is responsible for completing AHS call stipend timesheets after each block ends. Timesheets are completed based on the last version of the call schedule circulated during the block. Residents are responsible for ensuring the call schedule accurately reflects the actual call shifts worked and are to notify the Program Coordinator of any discrepancies as soon as possible.
Before the Program Coordinator submits the timesheet to AHS, the draft timesheet will be distributed to the applicable residents for review. Residents are responsible for reviewing the draft timesheet for errors and are to notify the Program Coordinator of any required corrections by the deadline indicated in the email.
Duty hours stipends are covered in PARA Agreement Article 35.05.
2025-26 AHS Call Stipend Payment Schedule

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