Call
We have a front-loaded call schedule, with most call taken during the first two years of residency. Call is balanced between each Track, with residents all having an equivalent call amount across residency. A broad overview of the call frequency in each year is found below:
PGY-1
- ~1 weekday short call (5 hours) per week, taken at the site you are rotating at (UCLA or the VA).
- ~1 weekend overnight call (14 hours) per month.
PGY-2
- ~1 weekday short call (5 hours) every other week, taken at the site you are rotating at (UCLA or the VA).
- ~1 weekend daytime call (14 hours) or overnight call (24 hours) per month
PGY-3
- ~1 weekday short call (5 hours) per month
- ~1 weekend daytime call (14 hours) per month, only at UCLA
- 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 one call per week. 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.
- Weekday Short Call (Monday to Friday):
- A “short call” lasting from 5PM to approximately 10PM with your last consult taken no later than 8:30PM.
- You take call at the site you are already at (UCLA while on UCLA rotations, VA while on VA rotations).
- On call with a team with one or more senior residents.
- Primarily performing psychiatric consultations in the ER and occasionally for the medical/surgical teams.
- 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.
- UCLA Friday Call
- A “long call” lasting from 11PM-8AM the next morning.
- You go to your usual rotation during the day but are off from 5PM-11PM to rest before your overnight shift.
- You are paired with a PGY-2 resident the entire time, although the PGY-2 plays more of a back-up role in the later part of the shift.
- UCLA Saturday Call
- A “long call” lasting from 5PM-8AM the next morning.
- You are paired with a PGY-2 resident the entire time, although the PGY-2 plays more of a back-up role in the later part of the shift.
- VA Weekend Call
- A “long call” lasting from 8AM-10PM (not overnight).
- Paired with a PGY-2 resident to help manage floor patients and see consults from the VA ER and/or medical floors.
- UCLA Night Float
- Night float team made up of PGY1 and PGY2
- There are 2 weeks of night float during intern year which are 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 other week.
- Weekday Short Call
- A “short call” lasting from 5PM to approximately 10PM with your last consult taken no later than 8:30PM.
- You take call at the site you are already at (UCLA while on UCLA rotations, VA while on VA rotations).
- As a senior resident, you help to not only see consults directly but also triage responsibilities with the intern and respond to pages.
- 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.
- Night Float
- Two blocks of night float for 2 weeks each (one block at UCLA and one block at the VA)
- When on float, you are on-call from 10PM-8AM, five days a week, with Friday and Saturday free.
- Tuesday PGY-1 Coverage Call
- On Tuesday evenings, two members of the PGY-2 class will cover the PGY-1 calls at UCLA and the VA to enable the entire PGY-1 class to be free of call duties following their afternoon lectures.
Call as an R3 is a mix of remote and in-person call. Frequency is approximately once a month.
- Remote Call
- While on remote call, you serve as the senior who is available to the PGY-1 and 2 residents by phone/pager in case any questions come up that they need your input on.
- You also help to respond to emergency pages from the entire PGY-3 and 4 classes’ outpatient panels from 5PM-8AM the next morning, though actually getting paged during this time period is rare.
- UCLA Call
- On Fridays (5PM-10PM), Saturdays (8AM-10PM), Sundays (8AM-10PM), and holidays (8AM-10PM), you serve as the senior member of the team, including handling floor issues, triaging consults to junior residents, and covering the outpatient pager. You are no longer responsible for seeing consults directly.
- Wednesday PGY-2 Coverage Call
- On Wednesday evenings, two members of the PGY-3 class will cover the PGY-2 calls at UCLA and the VA to enable the entire PGY-2 class to be free of call duties following their afternoon lectures.
There is no call as an R4!
We offer internal coverage 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!