Residents on Call

Residents cover several hospitals in-house overnight including UWMC, HMC, and Seattle Children’s Hospital.

PGY-2 residents are completely call-free with no evenings, weekends or nights.

PGY-3 residents are responsible for call coverage at UWMC, with overnight Night Float weekday call 7 PM to 7 AM, and Backup weekday call from 5 PM to approximately 11 PM. Call coverage also includes weekends, both day and night. PGY-3 residents assigned to a rotation at Seattle Children’s Hospital will typically have 1 set of weekend day shifts, Saturday and Sunday.

PGY-4 and 5 residents together are responsible for call coverage at Harborview (HMC – Level I trauma center) with overnight Night Float weekday call, typically on shift with a co-resident partner overnight from 8 PM to 8 AM. Additional coverage includes Backup weekday call at HMC from 5 PM to approximately 11 PM (or until the list is under control for the Night Float residents).  Call coverage also includes HMC weekends, day and night. PGY-5 residents are assigned Backup HMC weekends, when they may be called in to assist the dedicated weekend resident if they are especially busy. The call experience at HMC is unique in that the reading room is situated within the emergency room, only several feet from the CT scanners as well as the trauma bays. This allows for quick and frequent communication with clinical providers and is one of the highlights of our call experience.  

A post-call day off is provided on Monday for each weekend worked (day or night).

PGY-4 and PGY-5 residents are assigned are approximately 2-4 weeks total of Backup weekday call from 5 PM to 11 PM at Seattle Children’s Hospital. No overnight shifts are assigned at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Overnight attending coverage exists for UWML, HMC, and SCH. Residents serve as the primary radiology consultant on call, signing preliminary reports for the entire hospital and enjoying substantial autonomy without readouts or drafting reports, though also have the security of faculty supervision and assistance when needed.