The UPMC Mercy Transitional Year Residency Program: Preparing Physicians to Excel
Call Schedule
The on-call experience offers residents an opportunity to address a wide variety of acute medical problems and to participate actively in their management. Transitional year residents have the opportunity to see, evaluate, and manage all acute problems while knowing that immediate backup by senior residents and attending physicians is available.
Night Medicine: A Unique System
UPMC Mercy’s Department of Medicine was among the first in the United States to develop what is commonly known as a “night float” system. Transitional year residents serve one of their six medicine blocks on the night medicine rotation, which combines patient management with didactic activities.
A Night Medicine Team (three first-year residents and three upper-level residents) is on-site Sunday through Thursday nights. These residents complete their overnight experience in a didactic Morning Report. Medical Grand Rounds is scheduled from 8 to 9 a.m. on Thursdays.
This system makes it possible for transitional year residents to have evenings free, during their remaining rotations, to pursue independent study and personal development. Absence of night call responsibilities during the week also ensures that residents are fresh for teaching rounds, conferences, and other formal learning opportunities.
Residents assigned to daytime medical rotations are eligible for on-call assignments on weekends only. It should be emphasized that each resident has either Saturday or Sunday free for activities outside the hospital.