Structured Week-Long Call Reduces Burnout and Enhances Resident Experience in Interventional Radiology Without Compromising Case Volume

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of changing from a random single-day call system to a dedicated week-long call block on interventional radiology (IR) resident wellbeing and burnout.

Materials and Methods: The IR call schedule was restructured from random call shifts to a continuous, Friday-to-Friday, call week. Previously, residents worked until 8 pm, took home call overnight, and returned the following day regardless of overnight activity unless continuously occupied or at duty hour limits. With the new system, one resident is on call from Friday evening through the following Friday until 7 am, with in-house duty from 2-8 pm on weekdays, and overnight home call, followed by an off-duty Friday and weekend. Mornings and early afternoon are free of clinical obligations. Residents that took call with the new system completed the validated 15 question Mini-ReZ survey before and after implementation. The survey assesses satisfaction, stress, burnout, work control, chaos, teamwork, values alignment, and EMR challenges across 3 domains with 5 questions each, using a 5-point Likert scale. Monthly case numbers per residents for the current academic year were compared to the prior. Scores were compared using the Wilcoxon and paired t-tests and presented as means.

Results: Survey response rate was 100% (n=5), all males. Total Mini-Rez score increased from 34.9 to 46.3 (p=0.13). Among the 3 main domains, there was a statistically significant increase in scores for the supportive work environment domain (2.7 to 3.8, p=0.014) and the overall resident experience domain (1.9 to 3.1, p=0.024), respectively. No significant change was seen in work pace and EMR related stress domain (2.3 to 2.5, p=0.63). Residency satisfaction rating improved from 3 to 4.3 (p=0.02). Monthly case volume per resident did not decrease compared with the prior year (113.3 and 106.3, respectively; p=0.6). Additionally, 100% (n=6) of respondents reported feeling more technically confident and better prepared sooner due to close repetition of call level cases (e.g. angiogram, drainage of obstructed biliary and urinary systems, etc.).

Conclusion: Despite a small sample size, implementation of a structured week-long call system reduced burnout and improved residents’ overall experience without affecting case load. Such changes could be an effective strategy to improve resident wellbeing. Further data will be collected as more residents rotate on service with an estimated total of 10 by March 2026.