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Call frequency is dependent on whether the rotation is in-house call, home call, or ICU/CCU call.
Calculating days available for call:
Any of the 8 types of leave (vacation, sick, education, exam, moving, personal days, compassionate, and maternity/paternity/parental leave) must be subtracted from the total days in the rotation to determine the number of days available for call before calculating the maximum number of call shifts for that rotation (see Article 9.12).
Please note that the weekends before, after, and during a vacation period of 5 working days or more are not considered days available for call as they are part of the vacation period granted (see Article 12.2), and thus are to be subtracted from the total number of days available for call in the rotation. A resident may use 4 days of vacation leave and a stat holiday which falls during the "work week" (defined as 0800 Monday to 0800 Saturday) to constitute the 5 working days off. So a Monday-Friday vacation leave results in 9 days unavailable for call. And, as an example, a Tuesday-Friday vacation request with a Monday stat holiday also results in 9 days unavailable for call.
Calculating maximum number of call shifts:
The number of call periods to be scheduled in a rotation is prorated to the number of days actually worked. Residents don't do extra call before or after a leave to "make up call", rather the days on leave are subtracted from the days available for call.
When calculating, take the number of days in the rotation minus the number of days of leave, then divide it by 4 for in-house call or by 3 for home call. Round that number so that anything 0.5 and higher is rounded up to the next whole number.
Example: You have 2 days of education leave and 4 days of vacation leave in a 28 day rotation, so you have 22 days available for call (28-6=22).
If you have questions, feel free to contact us.
In-House call max = 1 in 4 averaged over the rotation
ICU/CCU call max = 1 in 4 averaged over the rotation
Home Call max = 1 in 3 averaged over the rotation
Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU) Senior Night Float
PGY3 residents on CTU call are considered CTU Senior Night Float.
The night float periods will be as follows:
(See full details in the Collective Bargaining Agreement section below)
Article 9.2
Both parties hereto accept that, in order to provide adequate service and care to patients and to enhance the medical education of Residents and so facilitate the realization of their educational objectives, that duty hours be limited to provide a balance of patient care, clinical experience and academics. No Resident will be required to do more than 1 in 4 in-house call averaged over an academic rotation. The duty period referred to is from 1700 - 0800 hours Monday through Friday, and 0800 - 0800 hours Saturday, Sunday and statutory holidays. This duty period shall be referred to as “in-house-on-call” duty. Stipends will be pro-rated where call periods worked are less than provided herein.
In services where in-house call is scheduled as partial or split-shifts (scheduled as less than 1700-0800 weekdays or 0800-0800 weekends), each part of the partial call shift or split-shift constitutes one call duty period for the purposes of call frequency maximums and call stipends.
Exceptions, based on academic need or exceptional situations, will be monitored by RDoS and the College of Medicine. Where concerns arise, discussion will be held at a Joint Consultative Committee meeting.
Article 9.3
In the event that a Resident performs In-House call duty in excess of 1 in 4 by assignment, such work will be paid at the following rates (click here):
There will be no prorating of these amounts for partial duty periods. Extension of hours pertaining to a critical medical situation or completion of training or service requirements will also not be considered. In-House-on-call duty periods that result from any leave of absence granted to theResident pursuant to this Collective Agreement will also not be considered.Extra rotations in excess of the principle of one (1) in four (4) averaged over an academic rotation will be voluntary and must have the mutual consent of the Resident and the Program Director.
Article 9.4
No resident will be required to do more than one (1) in four (4) ICU/CCU call averaged over an academic rotation.
In the event that a Resident works 24 hours on/24 hours off ICU/CCU, rotations in excess of the principle of one (1) occasion in four (4) days averaged over an academic rotation, he/she will be paid a stipend as follows: (click here)
For the purposes of determining the remuneration for rotations in excess of the principle of one (1) in four (4) averaged over an academic rotation, the calculation will not include rotations that result from the granting of education leave, examination leave, compassionate leave, paternity leave, and the six (6) days off during the Christmas/New Year’s period to other residents on the service. With the agreement of the Program Director or the Administrative Resident where this duty has been delegated by the Program Director, the existing practice whereby residents may interchange duty hours amongst themselves is recognized, provided that adequate patient care is provided. Additional remuneration will not be provided in such cases. Permission for such interchange will not be unreasonably withheld, but consecutive twenty-four (24) hour shifts will never be considered. The reason for the rotation in excess of the principle of one (1) in four (4) averaged over an academic rotation must be clearly defined so as to be able to determine that the Resident doing the excess rotation is to be remunerated.
Extra rotations in excess of the principle of one (1) in four (4) averaged over an academic rotation will be voluntary and must have the mutual consent of the Resident and the Program Director.
No Resident will be required to provide more than one (1) in three (3) call averaged over an academic rotation.
Article 9.6
A Resident will be scheduled to work a reasonable number of hours. The training/employing organizations will undertake to limit the average number of hours, having due regard for sound patient care and treatment, and the educational requirements of the Resident’s program.
Article 9.7
Residents who are not on call may be contacted and invited to participate in a case. However, except in the event of an emergency of qualified medical personnel not being available, all residents will be free to decline such invitations.
Residents who are not scheduled to be on call will not be expected to attend rounds on Saturdays and Sundays that are for service purposes only. However, this does not preclude the scheduling of teaching sessions on weekends, which Residents will be expected to attend.
9.8.1 Home Call
Residents are to be relieved of clinical responsibilities after twenty-six (26) hours from the previous day’s start time on the first post-call day at the Resident’s professional discretion at such point as they feel their ability to safely care for patients may be compromised.
9.8.2 In-House Call
A Resident who is required to provide care of a continuing or intensive nature shall be relieved after patient care handover. Patient care handover shall commence at the 24th hour and not exceed two (2) hours. No new clinical duties shall be assigned or undertaken after twenty-four (24) hours barring emergent circumstances. The Resident shall resume work on regularly scheduled hours the subsequent work day.
Article 9.9
In the event that a particular service or elective period does not have on-call duty periods, the Resident shall not be re-allocated to do on-call duty periods on another duty service unless a traditional combination of more than one (1) service on-call block applies. The foregoing shall not mean that the Postgraduate Program shall be precluded from the implementation of new call arrangements in the furtherance of educational objectives to meet changing needs or new programs.
Persons on a service with on-call duties will not be available for on-call duties on another service (be the call in-house or out-of-house on either service).
Article 9.12
Program Directors, via the Program Administrative Assistant with the assistance of the Administrative Resident as necessary, will email to RDoS all final resident duty schedules on the day they are posted in the program.
Article 9.13
Vacation time, sick leave and leave of absence for any purpose shall not be regarded as time available for on-call duty periods; rather, the number of duty periods shall be prorated to the number of days actually worked. (Articles 12.0 and 13.0)
Article 9.14
Other than in exceptional circumstances, no Resident shall be selected to be on call for more than two (2) out of three (3) consecutive weekends. Once in every three (3) week cycle, a Resident must have from the end of the regular working day on Friday until the start of the working day on Monday morning free from clinical responsibilities.The onus is on the Resident to notify the upcoming rotation coordinator at least five (5) weeks in advance in order to accommodate scheduling, so that the Resident will not be required to work more than two (2) out of three (3) consecutive weekends when changing rotations. If the Resident does not have his/her upcoming schedule at least four (4) weeks in advance, the Resident should immediately notify the relevant schedulers who will then be responsible for aligning the two (2) call schedules so that they do not violate the two (2) out of three (3) rule.
Article 9.15
In the interest of patient safety and Resident well-being, neither party encourages consecutive twenty-four (24) hour call. However, it is recognized that residents may on occasion choose to do consecutive twenty-four (24) hour call on certain services. With the approval of the appropriate program committee(s), Residents assigned to those services may opt to accept sequential twenty-four (24) hour call periods. This option must be exercised prior to preparation of call schedules.
Article 9.10.1
PGY3 residents on CTU call are considered CTU Senior Night Float.
The night float periods will be as follows:
Saturday Night 7:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.
Sunday Night 7:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.
Monday Night 7:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.
Tuesday Night 7:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.
Wednesday Night 7:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.
Thursday Night 7:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.
Senior residents will come to work at 7:30 p.m. to perform bedside teaching with two junior residents on-call, will stay in-house until at least 11:30 p.m., and will then be on home-call until 7:30 a.m. for CTU senior consults.
Senior residents will do one or two weeks of nights consecutively for two to four weeks during their senior year.
Senior residents are first call from Emergency and will distribute consults between two take residents.
Senior residents on-call during the day would cover on-call consults until 7:30 p.m. This would be twice a week for RED and BLUE seniors and once a week for SILVER seniors.
Seniors on subspecialty and CTU will cover Friday night call, Saturday call, and Sunday day call.
Article 9.10.2
Residents will be paid the home-heavy stipend and will not be entitled to the excess of 1 in 4 call stipend.
Article 9.10.3
The call stipend for Sunday will be prorated between the day and night resident.
Article 12.1
Each Resident shall receive, during each year of Residency training, four (4) calendar weeks of paid annual vacation. This is equivalent to twenty (20) regular working days. Vacation leave is not required for activities which are considered normal aspects of a residency program such as teaching and college mandated education.
Vacation leave will be arranged such that any instance in which five (5) or more regular working days are taken consecutively, Residents will not be placed on call the weekend directly before or after, and also, any weekend(s) which falls within the vacation period. Clinical duties will end at the end of the regular working day on Friday, no later than Friday midnight.
No individual rotation-specific vacation policy shall apply. In the case where rotations refuse a requested vacation period, the reason for refusal shall be shared with the resident and parent Program Director. If the reason is not deemed satisfactory by the parent Program Director, the Resident’s request shall be upheld. Any routine policy for refusal of vacation requests is deemed a violation of the collective bargaining agreement.
