Resident Duty Hours and Call

The department of plastic surgery call schedule meets all California legislative mandates and RRC requirements regarding resident call not to exceed 80 hours a week averaged over the month. There is no in-house call. The PGY I and II residents will take 4-5 call days a month with a senior resident supervising. The senior resident staffs all consults, supervises all emergency room based procedures, assists in the operating room, and rounds but the junior resident is the first person called for all floor issues, consults, and patient calls. On average, the PGY III-VI residents will take between 4-6 calls a month spread out over the weekdays and weekends. The call schedule is created 6 months in advance by the Loma Linda chief resident.

The Kaiser Permanente junior plastic surgery resident will be on call for Hand Call days only. Typically this is every Tuesday and Thursday nights and on average two weekends out of the month. Call may be taken from home. There is no coverage of Loma Linda or Riverside University Health System during this rotation.

Vacation and Meeting Schedule

Residents are granted the following vacation and leave time:

            PGY I Resident – 3 weeks (15 working days)

            PGY II-VI Resident – 4 weeks (20 working days)

The PGY III-VI resident may only take one week per quarter, with no consecutive weeks.  The PGYI-II residents when on selected services may only take 3 consecutive vacation days while a full week is available on most other services.

  • During the resident’s prescheduled conference lecture dates (see conference schedule).
  • During ASPS, AAPS, CSPS, or APC.
  • The first month of the new academic year
  • The last month of the academic year for the graduating resident.
  • The day of the resident graduation event

Five days off-service (weekdays plus weekend included) is allowed per year to attend educational meetings for PGY IV-VI.  The resident will be responsible for expenses incurred.  The meetings considered suitable for attendance for educational purposes, that will not require the use of vacation time are:

  • PGY III-VI – Maxillofacial Workshop (ASMS, AO)
  • PGY IV – ASPS,  AAPS
  • PGY V – Coding Workshop and one national meeting pending approval by the program director.
  • PGY VI – ASPS, AAPS. For the PGY VI residents a second five days is available to attend a Program Director approved board review course.