• Residency Overview
• Orthopaedic Surgery Residency
  • About Us
  • Applying To The Program
  • Current Residents
  • Department Policies
  • Educational Organization
  • Formal Education Opportunities
  • Organization
  • Professional Development
• PM&R Residency
  • About Us
  • Applying To The Program
  • Current Residents
  • Education
  • Policies
  • Rotations
• Podiatric Residency
  • About Us
  • Alumni Profiles
  • Conferences and Lectures
  • Current Residents
  • Rotations

• Loyola University Health System, Graduate Medical Education (GME) web site

Leave of Absence Policies

Each resident is allowed 21 calendar days of vacation, which shall be interpreted as 15 “working days”. A working day is defined as Monday through Friday. Not more than 7-10 working days may be taken as vacation days during a 3-month rotation and not more than 5 days may be taken during a rotation of 8 weeks duration or less.

It is the responsibility of the resident to arrange for cross coverage with another resident to cover specific aspects of their patient responsibilities and communicate this to the Chief Resident and supervising attending. It is the responsibility of the resident to ensure that all medical records, duty hours, and case logs are up to date prior to days off from work.

PGY 2 and PGY 3 residents in training will not be approved for vacation during the time between June 15 and July 15. This allows PG 4 residents completing training to utilize any unused vacation time during the last week of June. No resident will be relieved from training 10 days prior to the end of training (including week-ends). This leave restriction is meant to facilitate the transition of new PG 2 residents’ orientation and departure of the graduating residents without interruption of patient care. The program director must approve any exceptions.

Sick Leave

Sick leave is defined as a leave for illness or injury. If a resident is requesting sick leave, notification must be made to the supervising attending as well as the Residency Coordinator by 8:00 a.m. on each “working day” or on-call day, as necessary. The resident is expected to arrange coverage, if possible, and inform the supervising attending of this coverage. Rather than leaving a voicemail message, it is required that the resident directly speak with their attending and residency coordinator or a representative.

Twelve (12) days maximum sick days may be used. Additional time will be “unpaid leave of absence”. Any sick leave lasting longer than 3 working days may require a written physician’s statement indicating medical reason for absence and estimated duration of illness or injury.

Sick leave and educational leave cannot be converted to vacation time. Unauthorized absences from work may be grounds for disciplinary action, and/or extension of residency.

Unused Vacation & Sick time does not carry over to the next year.

Educational Leave

Educational leave of 7 calendar days is interpreted as 5 “working days”. Educational leave must have the approval of the program director and must also be requested by way of the “Request for House Officer Leave of Absence” form. The procedure to obtain approval and cross coverage, etc., is similar to vacation time.

Senior residents are encouraged to attend the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation annual meeting and a Board Review Course. All senior residents receive 2 additional, authorized “Educational Days” to attend the AAPM&R meeting. This is in addition to the yearly vacation and educational leave days.

Two additional educational days may be granted for presentations at other national meetings, at the discretion of the program director.

Conference Attendance

Each senior resident will receive a reasonable amount of funding, to be determined by the program director, for attendance at the AAPM&R annual meeting. Requests should be submitted at least 4 weeks in advance. Each resident is required to make their own travel arrangements, optimizing funds available.

Residents who have a paper or poster accepted for presentation at a national meeting will be considered for funding at the discretion of the program director. Funding will be limited to one day of travel, the presentation day, and return travel day, as well as registration, airfare & hotel for 2 nights. If the resident wishes to attend the full meeting, they will be responsible for any additional expenses and utilize educational leave or vacation time for the remaining days. Residents will be required to provide appropriate documentation and complete application forms and submit to the residency coordinator at least 4 weeks in advance of such presentation.

Reimbursement for prior agreed upon amount will be based on the resident turning in the appropriate, required documentation, i.e., airline purchase itinerary, boarding passes, original hotel bill, all meals, not included in the conference.

Licensure & National Boards

The PM&R residents are expected to complete the necessary National Boards and USMLE Part III examination as soon as they become eligible: “upon completion of 12 months of training”. A resident may not be offered a contract for PG4 year until they have successfully completed this exam.

Permanent License in Illinois

A resident is not eligible for a permanent license in Illinois until they have successfully completed USMLE Part III and 24 months of training. A resident may opt not to acquire a permanent license, if their future practice plans do not include Illinois. The program director will review each situation individually prior to extending a contract for the following year.

PM&R Board Examination

Upon graduation, all residents are expected to take Part I and II of the American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation examination. Part I is offered in August following completion of training. A resident is eligible for Part II after successfully completing Part I of the examination. This board exam is held in May.

Elective Rotation

Two months (8 weeks) of elective time is available to all residents, unless otherwise established by the program director. Electives are readily available through Loyola and Hines hospital, following the approval of the attending physician of that service and the program director. The Graduate Medical Education office will not approve any off-campus electives.

It is the responsibility of the resident to arrange for his/her own elective rotation and submit required paperwork at least 6 weeks in advance. Learning objectives for any elective rotation should be clearly outlined prior to the request for approval.

Moonlighting

Moonlighting is not allowed until a resident holds a permanent Illinois License.

When requesting permission to Moonlight, the resident should submit a written request to the program director regarding his/her intent to “moonlight”. This request should include, type of activity, frequency and a statement that such activity does not interfere with the resident’s training needs and that the resident holds a permanent Illinois license and is making arrangements for necessary liability coverage and VISA clearance (if appropriate). Permission for Moonlighting is renewed annually. The program director may disallow permission if in his/her opinion, moonlighting is interfering with residency program training needs. The total working hours per week, including the moonlighting should allow at least one day out of seven without clinical responsibilities.

On Call Responsibilities

The resident rotating on the inpatient service will be responsible for patient management until the resident taking call arrives and takes over responsibility. Night call responsibilities begin at 4:30 pm and end at 8:00 am the following day. If there are any questions about patient stability or need for close medical monitoring, in the event of a patient fall, residents are expected to go to the hospital to assess and manage the patient. An attending is on call to assist and guide the resident. Residents are expected to discuss all management issues with the attending on call.

Loyola University Medical Center/Hines VA Hospital

An average on-call schedule requires the resident to be on call 6 nights per month. The resident taking call will be expected to cover beds at both Loyola & Hines, while on call.

The resident on Spinal Cord Injury rotation will be on the SCI call roster and will be excluded from the PM&R call schedule.

Marianjoy Hospital

Residents rotating at Marianjoy Hospital are expected to be on the Marianjoy call schedule. This schedule requires “in-house” call.

Shriners Hospitals for Children

Residents rotating at Shriners Hospitals for Children do not take call, and are therefore expected to be on the Loyola/Hines call schedule.

In-Training Examination

All residents are expected to appear for the Self Assessment Examination for residents (SAE-R) offered by the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) annually. No vacation time will be granted for this date.

The program will pay the fees for the purchase of the “Self Directed Physiatric Program Study Guide” for each incoming PG 2 resident.

All residents and required to appear for the AAEM training examination held in May. No vacation time will be granted for this date.

Some rotations conduct end of rotation examinations in some specialized areas, e.g. EMG and Pain. Mock Oral examinations are held yearly for all PGY 3 and 4 residents. These examinations are also mandatory and vacation time will not be approved on that day. Graduating residents are expected to appear for these examinations on the year following their graduation.