Spencer "on-call"

So Spencer started his residency this past Wednesday and learned he'd be assistant on-call for the upcoming week- Friday, July 3-Friday, July 10. A second-year resident is on call and will call Spencer this week when he's called... just to have Spencer as his shadow. What is a dental resident "on call" for, you ask.. that has been the big question.
I've received a lot of questions about what it is Spencer will be doing during this residency since he isn't specializing. My answer has been, "to learn more" and to be honest, I really didn't know what he'd be doing. I know he'll do rotations in various departments in the hospital, just as a medical resident, but still things were pretty unknown. When you asked Spencer, I think he has been just as unsure; knowing he'd learn more but not real sure what the more would be.
I hope my explanation doesn't exploit the situation or go against any HIPPA regulations but he was "called" for the first time this afternoon. When he came back, he explained that an oncology resident called the dental resident for a consult on a patient who is in the hospital battling Leukemia. They wanted a dental evaluation to make sure there was no infection, etc. before continuing cancer treatment. (they'd want to clear infections before certain types of cancer treatments.) Of course, the dental needs are likely to be secondary to the main reason the person is in the hospital but the entire well-being of the patient is taken into consideration before moving on to major cancer treatments.
So Spencer went in earlier this afternoon and was called again earlier tonight.
He's excited about learning.
I'm adjusting to life surrounded by all this "learning excitement". :)