C. Call

During fellowship, the Fellows assume progressive responsibility for the care of patients. Of necessity, these experiences require the opportunity to care for patients at all hours, and in varied settings. The Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology recognizes that fellowship is demanding of both time and energy, and that the educational goals of this program and learning objectives of Fellows must not be compromised by excessive reliance on fellows to fulfill service obligations. The structuring of duty hours and on-call schedules must focus on the needs of the patients, continuity of care, and the educational needs of the Fellow. The following Fellow Call model is consistent with the Institutional and Program Requirements, in accordance with ACGME guidelines. It is designed to ensure good patient care and educational opportunities for the Fellow, and to prepare the Fellow for the clinical activity and pace that one can expect once in practice.

Our Division ensures that the Fellow is provided appropriate back-up support by the Attending and Advanced Nurse Practitioners when patient care responsibilities are especially difficult or prolonged. In the event that a Fellow during the course of caring for a patient(s) is kept in the hospital continuously for 24 hours, the Fellow would be absolved of all clinical duties for the following 24 hours. When the Fellow is not on call, the general work hours are usually 8:30am – 5pm.

Call will comprise one entire week including a weekend. Call is shared equally by all fellows. Responsibilities during the call week will include first response to patient and hospital calls during the evenings and weekend. Call is generally taken from home, but if there is a patient that requires more attention than the in-house residents can provide or there is a patient in need of an emergency GI procedure, the Fellow is expected to come to the hospital to assist the GI Attending in providing this service.

Fellows may exchange calls among themselves. All changes need to be discussed with the Program Director.