The conference schedule for Emergency Medicine residents has been designed to ensure that each resident has ready access to Emergency Medicine instruction. While on outside rotations, Emergency Medicine residents are expected to be released for Emergency Medicine conferences unless direct patient care duties prohibit them from attending. Wednesday mornings are reserved for Emergency Medicine conferences and residents are not required to work clinically in the Emergency Department or other off-service rotations. Five to six conferences are presented each Wednesday morning. Conferences are given by Emergency Medicine attending staff and residents. Monthly topics are based on rotating core content themes.
A typical month of didactics includes: resident core content, grand rounds, critical case conference, patient care follow ups, trauma, toxicology, M & M, EKG, ultrasound, journal club, radiology, pediatric conference, mock pediatric codes, wilderness medicine, women’s health, and research. We also hold joint conferences with the critical care, trauma and pediatrics departments so that we can learn from each other’s perspectives and also foster inter-departmental collaboration. In addition to weekly didactics, there are also numerous specialized events throughout the year including Airway Day, Procedural Sedation Day, Sports Medicine Day, Wilderness Medicine Day and numerous Procedure Skills Station days, all of which are hands-on experiences.
Emergency Medicine residents are expected to be actively involved in Emergency Medicine conferences. Resident involvement includes active participation during case discussions, simulation, presentation of patients, and one formal lecture presentation for 1st year residents and two formal presentations for 2nd & 3rd year residents.
ACLS, ATLS, BLS, and PALS courses are completed by all Emergency Medicine residents. The ATLS program is coordinated with the residents from the Department of Surgery. The ACLS, PALS, & BLS courses are completed during a one week orientation before the residency begins.
Simulation Education
The department of Emergency Medicine has been a leader at MMC in simulation education for over nine years. It has a robust simulation curriculum that is evidence based, has clear objectives, advanced debriefing techniques and formal evaluation of resident performance. We currently devote one grand round session per month to engage in simulation education at the Hannaford Center for Safety, Innovation and Simulation.
Every month our residents engage in simulated patient encounters that focus on the “topic of the month” (e.g. cardiovascular, infectious disease). These cases are chosen to focus on both high risk and rare disease presentations. Additional topics include death notification, end of life discussions, EMTALA, leaving against medical advice, child abuse, and crisis resource management.
Procedural Skills Workshops: With the support of the procedural skills lab, task trainers, and dedicated teaching faculty, residents learn procedures including but not limited to spinal puncture, intraosseous insertion, central line insertion, basic and advanced airway techniques, tube thoracostomy, transcutaneous pacing, transvenous pacing, pericardiocentesis, and procedural sedation and analgesia.
Three times a year residents undergo a “mock” oral board examination that mimics the physical setting and format of their oral board certification exam.
Ultrasound: Every month the residents engage in formal emergency ultrasound education that incorporates task trainers to teach FAST exam, thoracic ultrasound, bedside emergent echocardiography, vascular access, pelvic ultrasound in first trimester pregnancy, and ultrasound guided procedures.
Intern Bootcamp: To ensure a basic skill level in common emergency medicine procedures, new interns engage in an “intern bootcamp” session at the Hannaford Center for Safety, Innovation and Simulation, where they are taught skills such as splinting wound repair and spinal puncture.
