After hours radiology coverage for the University of New Mexico Hospital

Weekend days are staffed by in-house general radiology and neuroradiology attendings, as well as on-call interventional radiology attendings.  Emergency Radiology attendings are in-house 24/7, 365 days/year. Overnight, residents are always supported by a team of  faculty members (general radiology, neuroradiology, and interventional radiology) available in-person consultation if needed.  Interventional radiology attending physicians always perform and/or directly supervise all interventional cases. 

Our current call schedule is listed below. The number and frequency of on-call shifts will vary depending on the number of residents in each class and the total number of residents in the program.

On-Call Responsibilities

After approximately two months of training, R1 (PGY2) residents begin assisting upper level residents with evening/weekend responsibilities. This allows R1 residents to develop skills necessary for independent call in their R2 year. Evening/weekend shifts typically begin in early September, with R1 residents rotating weekdays (from 4:30 PM until 10:00 PM) and weekend days (from 8:00 AM until 8:00 PM) at UNMH.
Duties include:
  • graduated responsibility in interpreting emergency department and inpatient studies with direct supervision
  • helping with protocols
  • performing emergent fluoroscopy exams after sufficient training.
Attendings and/or upper-level residents directly supervise these R1 residents.q 7 days x 10-12 monthsR1 residents also take weekend and holiday Neuroradiology day shifts. These sessions are conducted under direct Neuroradiology faculty supervision and last from approximately 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

R2 residents take in-house night float at UNMH for 7-night shifts , in compliance with ACGME requirements (no more than 7 nights of night float in a row). They are accompanied by senior residents in-house overnight, as well as Emergency Radiology attendings, and general radiology attendings on weekend days. q 7 weeks x 12 months.

R2 residents are responsible for:

  • Preliminary interpretation of exams from all imaging modalities such as radiographs, CT, ultrasound, MRI, and nuclear medicine.
  • Preliminary interpretations are reviewed in a timely fashion by in-house weekend day shift attendings or evening Emergency Radiology attendings by no later than the morning for overnight interpretations. 

R2 residents are also assigned UNMH Day Shift on Weekend days 8:00 am - 8:00 pm and weeknight short call, 4:30 pm to ~10:00 pm q 7 dys x 12 months.

On-call faculty are available 24 hours a day by pager for assistance as needed.

On weekdays, these residents take 10-hour shifts, sharing the R2 resident workload overnight.  On weekend evenings (Saturday/Sunday), these shifts are 13 hours (7 p.m. to 8 a.m.).  

For R3s, a reduced-call or call-free period is provided prior to taking the ABR core exam.

Residents receive generous additional financial compensation for the following internal moonlighting opportunities:

Neuroradiology Moonlighting - R2-4 residents who have gained proficiency in neuroradiology are given a paid, voluntary opportunity to assist faculty neuroradiologists on weekend and holiday day shifts. These sessions are conducted under direct faculty supervision and last from approximately 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

OSIS Moonlighting - MRI Contrast Coverage – R2-4 residents can volunteer for paid ~12-hour weekend shifts at our Outpatient Surgery and Imaging Services (OSIS) as the physician on-duty in the event of an MRI contrast reaction.  These paid shifts provide ample time for studying.