Intern call schedules and their relationship to sleep, operating room participation, stress, and satisfaction.

Background: The ideal resident call schedule remains unknown. This study assessed the impact of different call schedules on intern performance and education.

Methods: A year-long, prospective, observational study of first-year residents in a surgery training program was performed with use of intern sleep/operative logs and questionnaires, and faculty questionnaires.

Reduction in order turnaround time, telephone calls, and trips to the pharmacy by means of facsimile transceivers.

The facsimile transceiver (FAX) was trialed at Beverly Hospital, Beverly Massachusetts, on the Intensive Care Unit and the Pediatric Floor from March 13 to April 27, 1987. Beverly Hospital is a 233 bed non profit community hospital. The facsimile unit was used to transmit medication orders to the pharmacy over existing telephone lines.