Call Time

Usually we know our sched a couple of weeks in advance. Call is not common. Clinicals 5 days a week, 8-10 hour days is where you get the most experience. Clinicals are about repetition.

When we rotate thru our trauma and OB rotation, there are 18 and 24 call.

Thanks for the reply Qwiigley. I had another interview the other day and in that program, the SRNAs start taking call after about 7 months into the program. They told me to expect 3-4 call shifts a month (16 or 24) for the first few months but then increase to 5-6 as people rotate out to other clinical sites. I don't mind working hard and doing the call time, but my wife will be working weekends and caring for the kids the rest of the week, so weekend call shifts are going to be very difficult for me to do. I was told that this program does this becuase they use the SRNAs to help staff the OR.

I like a lot of things about this program but I am nervous about the call volume...my children still need to be cared for!

Trauma already knows this, because I told him about it on the phone about a month ago.

I do three to four call shifts a month.

One friday (always busy, I generally get about two hours of shut eye.

One weekend day Saturday or Sunday (these are variable in their quantity of anesthesia time. I once had a night with nine cases, my fellow student did a 12 hour fem pop for his call shift. I usually get three epidurals and one trauma on these nights)

One weekday call ( this is the slowest of the nights, there is less trauma, but the surgeons schedule cases until about midnight. They feel that if they have to be in house, why not work?)

I would say that the opposite of Qwigley's experience is true, My most interesting cases occur at night. In our hospital the CRNAs get smarter at night. during the day the interesting cases usually go to the MD's (this is not a rule, just the way it works out)