Each fellowship class has a different call schedule, with different duties on call, appropriate for their level of skill and experience. Within each class, the call is rotated among the fellows in the class (currently 6/year). The call responsibilities of each class year are listed below:
- First year fellows are the “front line” of our division, and take call for the inpatient general cardiology unit, as well as all consults from any inpatient units, NICU, PICU, emergency
room, and referring hospitals/cardiologists. They also field phone calls from patients and parents at night and on weekends. The first year fellow performs all admissions, whether to the general floor or cardiac ICU, and will also go on transport if a physician is needed. Once patients are admitted to the cardiac ICU, the first year fellow hands off care to the second year in the ICU. The first year call is home call, as fellows are not required to stay in the hospital and can go home if patient acuity allows.
- Second year fellows take call exclusively in the Pediatric Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (PCTU), which is in-house call. The fellows rotate the nights and weekends among the second year class, as well as with the senior PICU fellows who rotate and take occasional independent PCTU calls. Fellows must leave the hospital after signing out the following morning, and therefore do not take weeknight call when on service in the PCTU, but typically are scheduled on the weekends when they are on service.
- Third year fellows rotate call each night and weekend as the “backup fellow”. They perform any echocardiograms and catheterizations that happen at night and weekends, and go on any transports that are determined to need a more experienced physician. They also serve as backup to the other 2 fellows on call. In the beginning of the year, they are a welcome resource for the 1st year fellow with regards to logistical and other more general questions. Third year fellows may be asked to help out in the PCTU in particularly high acuity times. When not called in, the third year fellow on call is not required to stay in the hospital.
