SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Analysis of Pages Received During Night Float Cross Cover

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This article examines whether medical students receive adequate training in cross-cover, a key and often stressful part of night call during internship. The authors note that many interns have little formal preparation for responding to pages overnight, and while boot camps and simulations can help, they do not replace real-time supervision in clinical settings. Because hospitalists commonly manage inpatient care and supervise learners, they are well positioned to teach this skill.<br /><br />At the authors’ institution, a one-week night rotation was added to the sub-internship to improve preparedness. The study retrospectively reviewed 315 pages received during this cross-cover experience. Pages were categorized as acute symptoms, routine intern tasks, communication requests, lab abnormalities, or vital sign changes.<br /><br />On average, each student received 39.5 pages. The most common pages involved acute symptoms (43%), followed by routine intern tasks (26%), communication requests (19%), and lab abnormalities (12%). Four of eight students participated in at least one rapid response event during the week, indicating exposure to higher-acuity situations.<br /><br />The authors conclude that most pages reflected acute symptoms or changes in vital signs, giving students a realistic view of the demands of overnight cross-cover. They argue that in-person cross-cover electives can better prepare medical students for the responsibilities they will face as interns. The study also suggests that such experiences may complement formal teaching by offering direct, supervised exposure to common night-time clinical problems. The planned next step is to survey students about how prepared they feel for cross-cover after this rotation.

Asset Subtitle

Arti D. Tewari

Meta Tag

Author List Arti D. Tewari, Ethan Molitch-Hou, Shannon K. Martin

Category Innovations

Concept Cross-Cover Training

Concept Cross-Cover Issue

Concept Intern Readiness

Concept Night Float

Concept In-Person Experience

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization University of Chicago

Presenting Author Arti D. Tewari

Track Education

Keywords

medical students

cross-cover

night call

internship

hospitalist supervision

sub-internship

overnight pages

rapid response

clinical training

patient care

Cross-Cover Training

Cross-Cover Issue

Intern Readiness

Night Float

In-Person Experience