The main goals of the rotation are to develop skills in the management of obstructive lung diseases, tuberculosis and interstitial lung diseases. In addition, the resident is expected to develop proficiency in the interpretation of chest x-rays, CT scans of the thorax and pulmonary function tests. House staff participate in an assortment of division specific conferences during their rotation. Each night, at 10 pm, a night float team arrives to cover admissions and all coverage issues for the ward teams. The night float house staff include anywhere from one to three residents and one to three interns, depending on the hospital.
Residents are responsible for admissions, while interns manage coverage issues.
Rounds while on night float are conducted with the chief residents. The call schedule on the inpatient service at Bellevue, Tisch and the VA are designed to maintain the integrity of the team with interns and residents always admitting patients together. Long call teams are expected to stay until they have completed their work on new admissions, after which they can sign out to the night float house staff.