Psychiatry Residency Hours and Call Schedule

Call at University of Maryland and Sheppard Pratt is a key component of our training.

This is an important part of the resident’s education and attention is given to ensure residents have the resources they need to be successful.

At every call there are layers of support and supervision, including seniors, chiefs and attendings.

You also are provided with all the physical support including sleeping rooms, a lounge room, TV and food within the hospital facilities and support services to enable you to concentrate on patient care and learning. As you can see from the call hours/schedule below, some rotations have longer call hours for shorter durations and other rotations have a night float system. We get feedback yearly about the schedule and incorporate new ideas!

PGY-1

On Service

No overnight call
Short-call (5 pm – 10 pm on average, 12 am at latest) occurs on average once every 1 to 2 weeks at Sheppard Pratt Hospital (Tuesdays and Wednesdays only) and once every 3 weeks at University of Maryland (Thursdays and Fridays only)
No call during 6 weeks of Psychiatric Emergency Services (which consists of 12-hour shifts, primarily days with a few overnight shifts)

Off Service

No overnight call
Interns work every other weekend while on inpatient neurology and get one day off a week on internal medicine
Emergency Department Rotation shifts range from 8-12 hours (mixture of overnight and day)

PGY-2

Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) shifts consist of primarily 12-hour shifts (primarily overnight, with a few day shifts)
UMMC Night Float consists of 12-hour overnight shifts (Sunday–Thursday night) usually 2-4 weeks in the year
No call during night float or PES
Inpatient call at UMMC is approximately once every 6 nights: short call from 4 pm to 8 pm on Mondays-Thursdays, 24-hour call from 8 am to 8 am on Fridays and Saturdays and 12-hour call from 8 am to 8 pm on Sundays
Based on resident feedback, Sheppard Pratt call has moved away from previous 24-hour calls to a full night float system: During the 3 month rotation at Sheppard Pratt, residents will have 3 weeks of night float. Total night float for the PGY2 year is 5-7 weeks.
During the Consultation-Liaison rotation, residents take two 24-hour Saturday calls at SEPH

PGY-3

Senior residents report to clinical sites for call at 8 pm (for PES/IPHB), 9 pm (for Sheppard Pratt) or 5 pm (at either site if there is a PGY-1 resident scheduled for short call). Seniors have to be reachable by phone for the full 24-hour period. Call is typically 2-3 times per month.