Practice Perfect 816
A Pearl for Residents (or Anyone) On Call

Being a physician is a busy endeavor, and taking call adds both busyness and complexity to a physician’s calendar. This is doubly true when the physician is a resident, with all of the extra educational responsibilities on top of clinic, surgery, and call. As a result, being efficient is a necessity when on call. Here’s a little pearl that has helped me during call: use a call bag.

I know this might sound obvious, but in my years in this profession I’ve seen a grand total of ZERO people using a call bag. In my opinion, the biggest time waster during call at the hospital (beside charting in the electronic medical record) is grabbing supplies. Whatever you do, don’t forget something, and have to go back in the middle of a dressing change! And heaven forbid you need to give a patient an injection. Two of my local hospitals require orders for anesthetics and then waiting for the medication to be tubed up from the pharmacy. That’s a solid 30- 45 minutes wasted. 

One can keep almost anything in a large enough bag. My bag is a small mobile podiatry office with a hand-held doppler and gel, dressing supplies, chux, disposable scalpels, cast padding, some wound supplies, syringes, lidocaine, culture tubes, and just about anything else I can think of. I purchased my bag online for about $45. There are lots of options – take your pick. The particular bag I purchased has several sections in the main area and four extra pockets, and it fits a lot of supplies.

I leave the bag in my car trunk when not on call (note in the image below my call bag in the trunk). When I receive a consultation I take the bag, see the patient, do whatever I need to do, and move on. No need to stop at the nurses’ desk or go to the supply room. In and out. I restock the bag at the end of my call week or half-way through if it’s busy. 

There are a few caveats to using the bag. First, it is very easy to cross contaminate via the bag, so keep it clean, and if a particular patient is under contact precautions, don’t take the bag in to the room. Second, periodically check all your supplies to make sure contents are not expired. Replace these as necessary. Third, be cautious with your hospital’s policies on using their supplies. Don’t get yourself in trouble. I generally stock my bag with a combination of supplies from the several hospitals I cover and my own clinic. I justify this method since I’m pulling supplies evenly across several locations, and it’s a lot less wasteful than taking new supplies every day and leaving the excess in the patient’s room. I’ve never had anyone question me, but you never know, so be careful. 

For those of you doing team call coverage or residents covering call, clean and restock the bag at the end of your call and pass it off to the next person. That way everyone can benefit from your efficiency. Good luck with your next efficient call. 


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Residency Summit Midwest 2022

Best wishes.

Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
PRESENT Practice Perfect Editor
[email protected]

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