Call
We have a front-loaded call schedule, with most call taken during the first two years of residency. A broad overview of the call frequency in each year is found below:
PGY-1
- 4 short calls (5 hours each) per month split between UCLA and the VA.
- 1 weekend overnight call (14 hours) per month at UCLA only.
PGY-2
- UCLA: 1 weekend overnight call (24 hours) per month.
- VA: 3-4 weekday short calls (5 hours) + 1-2 weekend overnight calls (24 hours) per month, only during VA rotations.
PGY-3
- 2 short calls (5 hours each) and 0-1 weekend daytime calls (14 hours) per month, only at UCLA (no VA call).
- No in-house overnight call!
PGY-4
- No call!
The tabs below will give you more details on the call schedule for each year, including information on off-service rotations during PGY-1. Please note that this information reflects the call schedule as it currently is and may be subject to change over time!
With the exception of a few off-service rotations, interns are in the same call pool for most of the year and have an average call frequency of every 6 days. You are never alone in house while on call either at the VA or UCLA. You will always have an R2 or R3 available if you have questions or need assistance, and the attending is always available by phone.
- UCLA Weekday Call (Monday to Friday):
- A “short call” lasting from 5PM to approximately 10PM with your last consult taken no later than 8:30PM.
- On call with a team that includes the night float R1, the night float R2, an R3, and a senior resident moonlighter.
- Primarily performing psychiatric consultations for the UCLA ER and occasionally for the medical/surgical teams.
- UCLA Weekend Call (Friday and Saturday)
- A “long call” lasting from 5PM-8AM the next morning.
- An R2 is always in-house, and the R3 will be present until 10PM to triage consults, handle floor calls, and for back up.
- VA Weekday Call
- VA weekday call occurs on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
- A “short call” similar to UCLA short call lasting from 5PM to approximately 10PM with your last consult taken no later than 8:30PM.
- On call team made up of a PGY1 and PGY2
- Alternate seeing consultations from the VA ER with the PGY2.
- There is no “long call” at the VA during intern year.
- UCLA Night Float:
- Night float team made up of PGY1 and PGY2
- There are two blocks of night float during intern year which consist of 2 weeks of night float paired with 2 weeks of vacation.
- When on float, you are at UCLA from 7PM-8AM, five days a week, with Friday and Saturday free.
- Serve as “back up only” during the hours of 2AM-5AM so that you can try to catch up on work and sleep!
For a few off-service rotations, you will be out of the psychiatry call pool and will instead take call with your service:
- Emergency Medicine: There is no call, only shift work.
- Internal Medicine: You take call with your team. The frequency varies according to the number of members of the team at that time.
- Harbor: You are part of the Harbor residency program’s call pool.
Call during PGY-2 is less frequent than during intern year, occurring on average every 8 days.
- UCLA Weekend Call (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday)
- Call team of PGY3, moonlighter, and a PGY1 (later in the shift)
- Friday night call is from 5PM to 8AM with you serving as “back up only” from 1AM to 8AM.
- Saturday call is from 8AM to 8AM the next day with you serving as “back up only” from 1AM to 8AM.
- Sunday Call from 8AM to 10PM with your last consult taken no later than 8:30PM.
- UCLA Night Float
- One night float block that lasts approximately 1 month
- When on float, you are at UCLA from 10PM-8AM, five days a week, with Friday and Saturday free.
- Serve as “back up only” during the hours 5AM-8AM so that you can try to finish your work and sleep!
- VA Call:
- “Short calls” from 5PM-10PM on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays
- An overnight “long call” from 5PM-8AM on Fridays
Call as an R3 is only at UCLA, and you serve as the senior on the team. Frequency is approximately every 14 days.
- UCLA Call
- Weekday (Monday to Friday) call shift is from 5PM-10PM
- Weekend (Sat and Sun) call shift is from 8AM-10PM.
- You are no longer responsible for seeing consults directly. Instead, as the senior member of the team, you handle floor issues, triage consults to junior residents, and cover the outpatient pager.
There is no call as an R4!
We offer internal moonlighting shifts at UCLA. The moonlighter is an additional member of the call team who sees psychiatric consults. The moonlighting system helps to offset the clinical volume for the other members of the team and provides interested residents with a way of supplementing their income.
This option allows the on-call resident team to call “back-up” on nights with a particularly busy patient load. Any residents who are not on-call can come in and see patients in the ER or on the medical/surgical floors in exchange for money ($200 per adult consult seen and $250 per child consult seen). This not only provides residents with additional ways of bringing in income but also lowers the burden of call for the on-call team. A resident-driven initiative!