On Call Coverage

UAMS Radiology call provides a training environment that prepares the residents not only for boards, but also to become superior radiologists. The residents cover UAMS, VA hospital, ACH and ACH-NW hospitals.

Faculty coverage: Currently, UAMS, ACH, and ACH-NW are fully staffed 24/7. Currently, M-T on call teleradiology faculty supervision is available from 10 pm to 1 am for UAMS. We have recruited 3 new Emergency Radiology faculty who will be providing overnight coverage once the division is fully established.

Call shifts: Call shifts are no longer than 12 hours in length. The call team consists of a lower level resident (R1), a short call upper level resident (R2-R4), and a long call upper level (R2-R4) resident, all housed in the main reading room with faculty backup available in all subspecialties.

R1s take an equal share of lower level call, which includes night float, an ER shift, and weekend call. R2s take the majority of call in the spring, while R3s take the majority of call in the fall. Since R4s have the most training and have passed boards, they take the most call, helping to alleviate the burden from the R2s and R3s to allow them more study time on nights and weekends in preparation for the upcoming board exam at the end ofthe R3 year.

Night float: To cover nights, our program has a night float system in place. Night float is a one to two-week rotation from Sunday to Friday night, starting at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday night and 10:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday night. The night float team consists of one upper level resident (R2-4) and one lower level resident (R1). Call responsibilities run through 7:00 a.m. the following morning at which time the lower level residents’ check out and dictates all emergent neuroradiology cases from the night before. The upper level resident will check out and dictate all body cases (CT and ultrasound) starting at 7 am.

Short call: A unique asset to our program is the short call experience for upper level residents. Short call residents work a normal day on Monday-Friday, starting call at 5:00 p.m. and finishing at 12:00 a.m.The short call resident has the following day off, which provides a great opportunity to take care of doctor appointments, errands, or travel days for those heading out of town on vacation.

Weekend call: Split into two shifts for both upper and lower level residents. These shifts are from 8:00 a.m. –8:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. –8:00 a.m. An upper level short call resident will overlap the day and night shifts, providing for efficient transition of care, and a second upper level resident also works, helping to provide preliminary reports on emergent cases. The short call resident is expected to stay until 12:00 a.m. before leaving for home, after which they will provide back up call coverage along with the staff radiologist who was on call during the day.

StatRad: Covers X-rays from 10:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. daily.

There are no 24-hour call shifts in the UAMS Radiology residency program.