Life on Call: Perspectives of Junior and Senior Internal Medicine Residents

Abstract

PurposeModels of daytime and nighttime on-call responsibilities for residents vary across internal medicine training programs, but there are few data regarding residents' perceptions of their on-call experiences. The authors sought to understand what residents perceive as the benefits and detriments of 24-hour, in-house call, a perspective instrumental to informing change. MethodThe authors conducted in-depth individual interviews and focus groups between December 2018 and March 2019 with 17 internal medicine residents from postgraduate years 1, 2, and 3 at the University of Toronto about their on-call experiences. Using constructivist grounded theory, the authors developed a framework to understand the residents' perceived benefits and drawbacks of 24-hour in-house call.

Doctors’ alertness, contentedness and calmness before and after night shifts: a latent profile analysis

“…Multiple factors could explain the obtained profiles, such as doctors’ individual preferences or personal situation [ 36 , 37 ], genetics in terms of needing sleep [ 38 ], or unmeasured working circumstances such as experienced workload and personnel staffing at night [ 39 ]. Doctors’ well-being may also be an explaining factor.…”