Call & Leave Requests

All residents participating in UAH Adult Cardiology rotations are required to contribute to the UAH Cardiology junior 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. One weekend is usually scheduled as Friday and Sunday calls and the other weekend is usually scheduled as Saturday call, although this may vary if the block includes a Named Holiday. Residents scheduled for a half block can expect to be scheduled for call on at least 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.

Submission of Call Information

HOW DO I SUBMIT MY CALL INFORMATION & REQUESTS?

The welcome email contains a link to a Google Form where you will enter your call information and requests. The welcome 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 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 organizers 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 organizers determine which weekends you can be scheduled for in accordance with PARA Article 20.05

• Indicate if you are sponsored by an agency other than AHS such as a Gulf-State country

• If you are a Core Internal Medicine resident, 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 Requests

LEAVE REQUEST PROCESS:

• Residents are to submit formal leave requests through the Google Form distributed in the orientation email

• The Cardiology program will do its best to accommodate all leave requests

• After the call schedule has been organized, leave requests that have been accommodated will be approved

• If a leave request has been approved, 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

• At least one resident must be available each day in each service to attend to patient care needs

Call Schedule Organization Information

WHO ORGANIZES THE CALL SCHEDULE?

The Cardiology program has teamed up with Mesh AI to use an AI autoscheduler to organize our call schedules. The generated schedule is reviewed by the Program Coordinator and Lead Residents who make custom revisions if needed.

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

• If a resident has requested formal time off, the call organizer will try to arrange the schedule so that the resident has a post-call day before their leave day unless the resident has submitted a specific alternate request or the resident has an academic activity that day

• If a resident has vacation time immediately following their Cardiology rotation, the call organizer will do their best to avoid scheduling the resident for call on the weekend before their vacation commences (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

• Ensure there is at least one junior 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 lengthened 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 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/Locating 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 UAH 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 trainees will enter call information and requests including their proposed Winter Break dates

• Residents are to submit five scheduling options for their six (6) consecutive days off and list these in order of preference. Two of the options must include Christmas Day and two of the options must include New Year's Day

• Residents observing Winter Break in Block 7 are not permitted any additional leaves