Comfort Levels of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residents during Call: A Survey Study

Background There are few studies in the literature reviewing how comfortable residents are during call, especially in the field of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R). The aim of this study was to review how prepared residents feel during call as well as gather general information about residency call in the field of PM&R in the hope of improving the quality of call. Methods An anonymous online survey made up of 7 questions addressing level of comfort during call, reason for paging, level of training, type of internship was sent out to the ACGME PM&R programs in the United States/US territories. Results A total of 221 PM&R residents from at least 48 programs across 25 states/US territories participated in the survey. The top 3 reasons for which residents were getting paged during call were pain, abnormal vital signs, and bowel/bladder issues. The top 3 items residents were least comfortable with handling during call were running a code, arrhythmias and seizures. The top 3 items residents were most comfortable with were constipation, pain and insomnia. 50% of unique programs were found to take home call, 19% in-house call and 31% home and/or in-house call. 46% of residents completed their PGY-1 training in a preliminary medicine program, 36% in a transitional year program, 6% in a preliminary surgery program, and 12% in another type of program. Conclusion This study gives an idea of the common reasons why residents are getting paged during call and what residents feel comfortable and uncomfortable handling while on call. This information can better guide residency programs in regards to their educational conferences and improve the quality of PM&R residency call and ultimately patient care.