Neurology Residency - Night Float or No?

[brainiac88]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm trying to figure out what the positives/negatives of:
1) going to a neurology residency program with a night float (6 weeks total night float per year per resident)
2) going to a program with q4 call all year long (except 1-2 months; still 4 days off every 4 week period)
3) which you would prefer if you had a choice to go to one or the other

 

[marqaha]

Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I bet there may some restructuring of call schedules and night float with the new ACGME guidelines being implemented in July 2011. So what a program has in place right now, may not be what they do this time next year. It could be a good question to ask during interviews though.

 

[Eurosepsis]

If I'm not mistaken, the consecutive hour change only affect PGY-1s, which will have no bearing on call for neurology residents.

 

[marqaha]

There are proposed policy changes for pgy2+ too. Basically they are the reverse of what currently happens. More senior residents have longer consecutive hour limits and higher call frequency is allowed.

http://acgme-2010standards.org/proposed-standards.html

 

[PhakeDoc]

I officially hate this whole night float thing, especially for interns. I've done the Q4 thing in med school and now am at a place where we have night float, with the 16 hr work rules in place. Gah...HATE IT! I feel like I don't know any patients. There's something to be said for admitting, and then seeing the patient again each day.

Instead of going from 30 to 16, they should have gone down to 22-24h overnight call. Would have been a much better compromise IMHO. If you've never done Q4, you'll never know the difference, but now having firsthand experience in both, I never thought I'd say it, but I miss you, Q4.

 

[rocksheng]

can not agree more. NF in a small neurology program (<8 fro each class) is even worse than Q3 or 4 call.

 

[danielmd06]

I didn't have night float and I didn't care for it when I saw it in other programs. It only worked in IM and Gen Surg or large neurology residencies that had the personnel numbers to make it work.

I'd personally rather just take the traditional call. It seemed easier to me.