How To's

Is it emergent or urgent?

• Anything that affects a shift within the next 24h counts as emergent or urgent

• Examples may include: getting sick and needing to immediately go home, family emergency, nighttime ICU shift that you can no longer cover, etc. 

• If 6 AM - 9 PM, CALL the on-call chief. If between 9 PM - 6 AM, TEXT the on-call chief, unless it cannot wait until 6 AM the next day (e.g. overnight ICU shift coverage). If text, confirm in the morning that the call chief received your message (either via repeat text or call)

How do I find who the call chief is?? The call chief is listed on the top row of the call page on Amion, just above MSD 1 call.

If it is not emergent or urgent, please email stanesthesiachiefs@gmail.com instead of calling or texting. While we love chatting with all of you, we receive many messages during the day. Sending an email for non-urgent matters helps us triage and keep track of what issues still need to be resolved.

Please use this Block Schedule Request Form to submit schedule requests for your block schedules. Request personal/sick days, conferences days, outreach, time off for doctor’s appointments, etc. using this link! 

Schedule Requests

• ***DISCLAIMER: Please submit your requests BEFORE THE DEADLINE noted in each block schedule request email. Your best chance of having your requests fulfilled is a timely submission. If you do have a new request AFTER the deadline, email your rotation director for approval and CC the chiefs.  Know that your request will be prioritized lower than submissions entered on time.

• Be as specific as possible when submitting your requests. We always try to grant every request, but requests that have more details (i.e. reason for sick day request or non-call weekend, time of doctor's appointment, flight times, etc) are more likely to be accommodated. This also allows us more flexibility to find creative solutions!

• Unfortunately, there are some days that already have a low number of residents assigned to the MSD ORs because of sims, lecture, etc. If this is the case, we may not be able to grant a sick day or academic day. 

  • In general, T/W/Th have a higher likelihood of being granted as a sick day or academic day. If possible, please try to schedule your doctor's appointments for these days. 

• Prioritize your requests if you have multiple requests in one block.

• Please send yourself a copy of your block request submissions so that you can reference what you have already submitted later. This can save you and us a good amount of effort later.

• If you have a question about why a request was not accommodated, please feel free to email us and we will be more than happy to explain!

What if I need to request a weekday off?

You may request to be DAC (or day after call aka post-call) for days off.

You are also eligible to request:

• Sick days

• Conference days

• Academic days on MSD

What are Sick Days?

5 days per year (aka 15 days total in CA1-3 years), to be used as you see fit. Request them using the above schedule request form BEFORE the deadline; if AFTER the deadline, email the chiefs (as the form is no longer active). 

• Reminder that if you go over the allotted number of sick days in residency, you may need to extend your contract and work extra days to meet ABA requirements.

More information about the absence policy can be found in the policies folder!

What are Conference Days?

Per our education time policy, conference days are granted for the day of presentation as well as one additional day for travel if needed. 

On busy rotations, residents may need to use a post-call day to travel. Please forward us the approval email from Dr. Chen for your conference days. You will have to use academic/sick days for travel or attending the conference on days not presenting.

See how to request conference days below.

• Please avoid booking flights until after a subspecialty academic/personal day request is approved by the rotation director and the block schedule is published. 

What are Academic Days?

Cash in 8 hours of academic hours for an academic day off!

Requests to use academic days instead of a sick day must be indicated when you submit the block request form.

How do I request a sick day, conference day, or an academic day?

For subspecialty rotations:

• All requests require rotation director approval (see contact list on schedule request emails or the Contacts page on Starr).

For MSD and MSD-adjacent rotations:

• Before block schedule published: 

  • Non-OR MSD-adjacent rotations (i.e. PACU, ASC scheduler, SAU, MSD Periop) require rotation direction approval

  • MSD and OR MSD-adjacent rotations (e.g. urology, thoracic, abdomen, etc.) DO NOT require rotation director approval

• After block schedule published: All rotations require both (1) rotation director and (2) MSD directors (Dr. Hasan-Hill and Dr. McHenry) approval

After receiving approval:

1. SUBMIT the schedule request form and include "Approved by rotation director" in the dropdown menu then

2. Forward your approval email from the rotation director to the chiefs.

Please reach out if you don't hear back from a rotation director in a timely manner!

Can I go to a conference? How does Stanford reimburse for conference expenditures?

Stanford's anesthesia department very generously provides annual support and funding for residents to present at two conferences outside of ASA and WARC (i.e. 4 conferences in total).

• Conference Request Form - complete prior to travel

• Conference Week Policy

• Conference Egencia Access

• Conference Reimbursement Instructions

• School of Medicine Business Expense Guidelines ** requires Stanford email/SUNet ID

EDF Request Form: LINK

• Approved Usage: EDF funds can be used for a variety of educational purposes such as:

  1. Professional development courses, workshops, and textbooks

  2. Conference registration and seminars related to your field

  3. Subscriptions to professional journals or online learning platforms

  4. If you have other requests, please reach out to Dr. Chen @ mcchen8@stanford.edu

  5. Before making any purchases or registrations, please ensure that the expense meets the criteria outlined by the guidelines above. If you have any doubts or questions regarding eligible expenses, reach out to anesresidencycoordinators@stanford.edu

• Approval Process: After you submit the EDF Request Form and you receive approval (via notification from automation@smartsheet.com), you can move forward with your purchase. Be sure to go back into the request to then upload your receipts from your purchase.

  1. EDF reimbursement can only occur once your receipts have been uploaded.

  2. Please allow at least 3 weeks after your receipts are uploaded for your reimbursement request to be submitted and processed by the finance team. 

FURTHER INFO:

• Reimbursement requests for ASA memberships, BASIC Exam, and ADVANCED Exam are separate from the EDF and can instead be emailed directly to me for processing.

• Reminder: Medical license and DEA license reimbursement requests must be sent to GME for processing.

• Please note that the last day to make any EDF usage request is June 1st.