24/7/365 in-house radiologist coverage: effect on resident education.

Rationale and Objectives To compare programs with and without 24-hour/7 days a week/365 days a year (24/7/365) in-house radiologist coverage regarding resident perceptions of their on-call experience, volume of resident dictations on call, and report turnaround time. Materials and Methods Residents from six academic radiology departments were invited to participate in an 11-item online survey. Survey items were related to workload, level of autonomy, faculty feedback, comfort level, faculty supervision, and overall educational experience while on call from 8 pm to 8 am . Each site provided data on imaging volume, radiologist coverage, volume of examinations dictated by residents, number of residents on call, and report turnaround time from 8 pm to 8 am . F-ratios and eta-squares were calculated to determine the relationships between dependent and independent variables. A P value Results A total of 146 (67%) of 217 residents responded. Residents in programs with 24/7/365 in-house radiologist coverage dictated a lower percentage of examinations (46%) compared with other residents (81%) and rated faculty feedback more positively (mean 3.8 vs. 3.3) but rated their level of autonomy (mean 3.6 vs. 4.5) and educational experience (mean 3.6 vs. 4.2) more negatively (all P Conclusion More rapid report turnaround time related to 24/7/365 coverage may come at the expense of resident education.