Tacoma Family Medicine

At Tacoma Family Medicine, call responsibility is divided into three distinct areas: inpatient call for pediatrics and adult medicine, night float and OB. All call is taken in the hospital.

Inpatient Call

The on-call resident team, comprised of an R1 and a senior resident, does the primary admissions for pediatrics, family medicine, and internal medicine. Residents work closely with the inpatient adult and pediatric hospitalists who are available to precept these patients with you. This call model closely duplicates the actual practice of family medicine, allowing residents to maintain their skills and knowledge in a variety of different disciplines.

Weekday call begins at 2:30pm and finishes at approximately 8:30pm-9:00pm with the arrival of the night float resident. Friday and Saturday calls are overnight in the hospital with rounding responsibilities the following morning for your respective service if applicable. Sunday call is from 8:00am to 9:00pm.

A “backup” resident is available from home to come into the hospital as needed if the call team is overwhelmed by admissions. Medicine and pediatric patients from the TFM clinic are generally placed on the Family Medicine Service. Primary care resident physicians are expected to make “social” continuity visits to their patients on the panel when possible.

Night Float

TFM’s “night float” call system has been in effect since 1989. Night float is taken by second and third year residents and is designed to minimize resident fatigue. The night float resident covers all resident services including medicine, family medicine and pediatrics as well as taking new admissions overnight for each of these services. This experience is designed to encourage a greater sense of autonomy and responsibility while fostering decision-making skills with direct faculty support as needed. The night float schedule if from 8:30pm – 7:45am Sunday through Thursday.

Obstetric Call

Given the high volume and high-risk nature of OB patients managed by TFM residents, a separate call system has been developed to maximize the training experience in obstetrics. OB call is a 24-hour call that occurs every 4th night during the OB rotation. Faculty family practice and obstetrician supervision is available at all times. Residents are strongly encouraged to maintain continuity call coverage for their own obstetric patients.