A Day in the Life
What does a typical workday involve?
A typical day might be structured as follows:
- 7:30am - 8:30am: Morning Report
- 8:30 am - 10:30 am: Ward Rounds
- 10:30 am - 12:00 pm: Teaching Rounds or Patient Care
- 12:00pm - 1:00pm: Subspecialty Didactic Seminar (lunch provided)
- 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm:Teaching Rounds or Patient Care
- 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Patient Care
- 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm: Sign-Out Rounds
- or - - 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Outpatient Clinic
What is the on-call system for house officers?
PGY-1 residents are responsible for call every fourth night until 10pm. Saturday calls are overnight (24 hours) and occurs approximately once per month. There are only two ward rotations in our entire program that do not utilize a night float system. These two exceptions occur only in the PGY-1 year, and include the MICU and CCU at Albany Medical Center Hospital, which involve 1 in 3 overnight call. Following an overnight call, the intern leaves after rounds the next morning. PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents average every fourth night on call until 10:00 pm and one Saturday per month while on medicine ward rotations. All PGY-2 and 3 rotations are covered by our night float system.
A meal allowance, redeemable at the hospital cafeteria, is provided to on-call residents at Albany Medical Center Hospital; at VAMC, meals are provided free of charge in the cafeteria.
What is the night float system?
We are fortunate to have a house staff program that is large enough to allow for a night float system at all levels of training. The night float house officer works Sunday through Friday, from 10:00 pm to 8:30 am.
PGY-1 residents are assigned to 1 or 2 months of night float and upper level residents do 1 month per year. Three night float PGY-1 residents and 2 PGY-2 and -3 residents are assigned to Albany Medical Center Hospital; 2 night float PGY-1 residents and 1 PGY-2 or -3 resident are assigned to VAMC.
Are ancillary services available to the on-call resident?
Both hospitals have extensive ancillary services, including phlebotomists and I.V. teams, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Laboratory results are accessible via computer terminals on all wards.
How is the outpatient ambulatory care experience structured?
Albany Medical Center's program has been approved as a Primary Care Residency by the New York State Department of Health and as such residents in our categorical program spend 20% of their training in their outpatient continuity clinic. Trainees spend 1/3 of their overall time in outpatient settings.
Our outpatient experience is designed to prepare residents for careers in primary care and general internal medicine. Faculty preceptors are assigned to each resident and patient continuity is stressed throughout the three-year experience. The outpatient clinic responsibilities maintain priority over all other patient care responsibilities. Coverage is provided during scheduled clinic sessions to allow for uninterrupted time with patients and preceptors.
During the PGY-1 year, residents spend one half-day per week in their outpatient continuity clinic. For the rest of the residency period, residents spend two half-days per week in outpatient practices. During their three years of training, residents also spend three months in an ambulatory continuity practice block rotation; one month per year beginning in PGY-1.
