Curriculum

• During the three-year residency, we have designed a didactic and clinical curriculum that provides an environment where residents have optimal exposure to the core content of emergency medicine training. A weekly education conference is designed to supplement clinical experiences with formal lectures, small groups, special events, and simulation labs.
• Our program is dynamic and responsive to resident feedback. We evaluate our rotations annually as part of our mission to constantly improve.
• 21 days of vacation are allotted per training level. Residents are able to self-schedule vacation during EM rotations with a maximum of seven days of vacation allowed per block.
• Each resident can submit one request to the program coordinator regarding their block schedule for the following year. This is helpful if you know you will need time off for a specific event.
• Want to learn more about how you will spend your time as a resident? Check out our sample block schedule.

PGY-1 Schedule

The primary goal of the first year of residency training is to learn the foundations of evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of common emergency disorders and the performance of procedures. Our residents complete rotations in Emergency Medicine, Adult Critical Care, Pediatric Critical Care, Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, and Trauma. In addition, residents participate in a longitudinal emergency medicine ultrasound curriculum consisting of scheduled ultrasound shifts with senior residents, as well as electronic ultrasound learning modules. This occurs once per EM block.

PGY-2 Schedule

The second year of Emergency Medicine training places additional emphasis on Critical Care via a supervisory rotation in Adult Critical Care. Our residents do additional rotations in Ophthalmology and Obstetrics, as well as more than 8 blocks of Emergency Medicine. Residents have increased patient care, educational, and supervisory responsibilities, as well as pre-hospital medical control.

*In place of a dedicated EMS Month, we have a longitudinal EMS experience in which senior EM residents are assigned to our MSU-1 Physician Response Unit, typically one 24-hour shift during each EM month. Please note that scheduled MSU-1 shifts result in a reduction in EM shifts. We believe that this longitudinal approach is far superior to a more traditional focused EMS Month.

PGY-3 Schedule

Our senior Emergency Medicine residents spend the bulk of their time in the emergency department setting and gain further experience in critical care. They have additional responsibilities in patient care, supervision and education of junior house staff and students. During the one-month EM/EM Teaching rotation, our residents experience a reduction in ED clinical responsibilities and take on a wide range of instructional activities working with medical students, rotating residents, EMS students, and paramedics. Supervising Emergency Medicine faculty are in the emergency department 24 hours a day.

Emergency Medicine Conferences

Approximately five hours of conferences, including interdisciplinary trauma conferences, are held each week for our residents and cover a wide spectrum of emergency subjects. Our guest speaker program features emergency medicine lecturers of national and international repute. A separate, dedicated conference series is aimed at medical students. Residents assist in medical student education and in the orientation session held at the beginning of each month for rotating students and residents.

Innovative Education

The WMed Department of Emergency Medicine is committed to the constant pursuit of innovative educational programs that strengthen our residents’ experience and result in better-prepared emergency physicians. Our residents’ education takes place in many areas and in many ways. Clearly, the hospital clinical arena is where residents receive the bulk of their training. However, education also occurs in the lecture hall, the Simulation Center, in textbooks and journals, in the pre-hospital setting, on the computer, and elsewhere. We all learn in unique ways and WMed strives to provide a variety of instructional modalities intended to maximize the learning experience and develop caring, competent emergency physicians.

• Learn more about the WMed Simulation Center

• Clinical Education Rooted in the Emergency Department
  We believe that the very best setting for our residents to learn clinical emergency medicine is in our two busy emergency departments at Borgess Medical Center and Bronson Methodist Hospital. With an annual combined ED volume of over 160,000 diverse patient visits and outstanding clinician faculty, our EDs provide the perfect environment for learning clinical emergency medicine. Therefore, nearly two-thirds of our clinical rotations are rooted in the ED.
• Emphasis on Critical Care
  Our program places a strong emphasis on critical care with PGY-1 residents receiving four months of experience in our busy medical (two months) and trauma/surgical (two months) intensive care units. These rotations result in our residents entering their second year with an excellent critical care foundation, as well as the skills for invasive procedures and the knowledge to allow for the critical decision making that comes with the added responsibilities of being a senior resident. An additional month of medical Critical Care is provided in the second and third years where residents function in a senior leadership capacity.
• Monthly Simulation Wednesdays
  The use of simulation in emergency medicine education is rapidly evolving. The WMed Simulation Center is a state-of-the-art educational center that provides a realistic clinical environment with high-fidelity clinical simulators and task trainers. Since the establishment of the Center, our residency program has worked to include simulation-based instruction whenever we can. We now hold a "Simulation Wednesday” each month which includes an extensive variety of simulation activities based on residency year and the rotation our residents are about to enter. These sessions are led by emergency medicine faculty and third-year residents. div>
• Standardized Educational Courses
  Standardized educational courses are national courses that are designed to address a very specific area. Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support are two of the better known. In addition to ACLS and ATLS, all of our residents participate in Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Fundamentals of Critical Care Support, and Basic and Advanced Disaster Life Support. These courses provide an excellent educational foundation for junior residents with immersion in a very narrow, but highly important, area of emergency medicine. Second- and third-year residents, along with faculty physicians, routinely teach ACLS and other courses to new residents, medical, PA, and paramedic students.
• Dedicated Emergency Medicine Teaching Rotation
  We believe that an important responsibility of emergency physicians is to teach other healthcare professionals. As such, we provide a specific Teaching Rotation as part of the second year. During this month, our residents work a reduced number of ED shifts allowing them to participate in various teaching activities, including assisting with the orientation of new medical students and rotating residents, teaching students, paramedics and flight personnel. Most teaching is done in a small-group setting and residents have plenty of opportunity to experience our high-fidelity simulators from the other end of the computer. Beyond this rotation, ample opportunities exist for residents to teach throughout their second and third years. Our hope is that, upon graduation, you be a caring, competent clinician and an effective, seasoned teacher.
• Longitudinal Ground and Air EMS Experience

  Through MSU-1, our resident response unit, residents receive a truly longitudinal experience in both ground and air EMS. The experience begins with ride-alongs on MSU-1 during the first year. In the fall of their first year, our residents begin MSU-1 training to learn safe and efficient EMS operations. In July of their second year, residents begin staffing MSU-1 with assistance from a third-year to ease the transition to the operational nuances of MSU-1. After the initial MSU-1 experience, both second- and third-year residents continue to staff MSU-1 throughout residency, typically one shift during each ED month. In addition to the field experience, our residents receive regular lectures in EMS and disaster medicine. This type of longitudinal experience provides a very different learning approach and EMS is truly interwoven throughout the residency program.

Specialty Tracks

Although the primary goal of our residency program is to train outstanding emergency physicians, we realize there are residents with additional career interests who wish to explore and develop other areas of expertise Our curriculum affords sufficient flexibility to accommodate many of these pursuits and we have developed a number of optional specialty tracks for residents with specific interests. In many circumstances, these tracks are essentially "mini-fellowships." They are entirely optional and our residents may be able to mix and match different features from different tracks. Our residency specialty tracks include:

• Professional Organizational Leadership
  Residents who are interested in leadership roles within professional medical organizations can serve on the Board of Directors of the Kalamazoo Academy of Medicine and as delegates to the Michigan State Medical Society. Our trainees also participate in leadership activities within the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians and the American College of Emergency Physicians, attend a number of state and national meetings and conferences, and serve as an alternate councilor in the national ACEP Council meeting.  
• Medical Staff Leadership & Medical Director
  In this role, residents have an opportunity to carry the title of Emergency Medicine Resident Section Chief and Resident Medical Director, and assist the ED Medical Director, Chief of Staff and Vice President of Medical Affairs in policy development, innovation, operations, medical staff governance, medical quality, and ED medical direction. They also develop the leadership skills necessary to function in such positions and serve on a wide variety of hospital committees, including Medical Executive, Medical Staff Quality, ED Performance Improvement, and Credentials. Our residents also have the opportunity to participate in a variety of national medical staff leadership conferences.
• EMS Operations
  In EMS Operations, residents can prepare for the role of medical director for an EMS agency or an EMS fellowship. Residents participate in a wide range of EMS operational activities in collaboration with our EMS Medical Director and Medical Control Authority, including quality improvement, incident investigation, EMT education, and development of EMS clinical and operational protocols. Residents also complete and present an EMS-related research project and are encouraged to complete the NAEMSP National EMS Medical Directors Course and Practicum, as well as FEMA's Intermediate and Advanced Incident Command Courses. Residents participate on the Michigan College of Emergency Physician's EMS Committee and attend various Michigan Department of Community Health EMS meetings. div>
• EMS Education
  Our residents who are interested in EMS education can prepare to assume a position as an EMS Educational Program Medical Director. Residents serve as the Associate EMS Medical Director for our EMS training programs and teach paramedic students via lectures, skills training, and simulation. They develop and review examinations, remediate students, and develop policies. Our residents complete and present an EMS education-related research project and have the opportunity to attend the annual National Association of EMS Educators Conference.  
• Disaster Medicine
  Disaster Medicine is for our residents interested in healthcare emergency preparedness and disaster medicine. Residents are actively involved in the 5th District Regional Healthcare Preparedness Program and attend regional planning meetings, participate in exercises and drills, and work closely with our field hospital unit. Residents have the opportunity to attend multiple conferences offered through the Department of Homeland Security's Center for Domestic Preparedness. They also become National Disaster Life Support Program instructors and teach in NDLS courses. Residents complete and present a research study in the area of Disaster Medicine.
• Medical Education

  Residents with special interests in teaching and education participate in the national ACEP Teaching Fellowship, a yearlong, non-residential educational program offered by the American College of Emergency Physicians. This involves two 6-day conference blocks at ACEP Headquarters in Dallas combined with a longitudinal academic project. Topics include:

  Elements of instruction Instructional systems Curriculum development Teaching methods Questioning and feedback Evaluation Microteaching

  Teaching portfolios Peer-review programs Conflict management Interviewing, the RRC Communication skills Teaching medical students CVs and journal clubs

  Residents with interests in Medical Simulation learn how to operate numerous high-fidelity simulation mannequins, including SimMan, SimBaby, SimMan 3G, SimNewB, and Noelle. They learn various educational techniques using simulation, teach procedural simulation, case-based simulation team-training exercises, develop new simulation exercises, create new task-trainer models, develop case-based simulations, and test new simulation equipment. They become members of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and attend its annual meeting.

• Research

  Residents will special interests in medical research can complete the national ACEP Emergency Medicine Basic Research Skills Workshop. This is a yearlong, non-residential fellowship program involving 11 days on-site at the American College of Emergency Physicians Headquarters in Dallas, coupled with the development of a longitudinal research project. Topics covered include:

  Research design and methods Searching, organizing, and analyzing literature Statistics and statistical software IRBs

  Informed consent Presenting research Funding sources and grant writing Medical publishing, epidemiology, and precepting

• Critical Care Fellowship Preparation

  Our Emergency Medicine graduates can enter Critical Care Fellowship programs and sit for the Critical Care sub-board examination. Emergency Medicine graduates must complete the prerequisite of at least 6 months of IM rotations, at least 3 months of which must be in medical critical care. Our residency curriculum already includes four months of medical critical care so residents pursuing this track need to take two months of additional IM rotations, which can be scheduled at any time during residency.

• Sports Medicine

  Our residents with special interest in Sports Medicine may elect for our Sports Medicine track, sponsored in conjunction with WMed’s Sports Medicine Fellowship program. Residents will complete one or two sports medicine electives and receive thorough exposure to general sports medicine topics, such as pre-participation physical exams, sudden cardiac death, athletes with diabetes, dehydration, etc. They will serve as a team physician, join and participate with national sports medicine professional organizations, and complete an academic project in the area of Sports Medicine.

• Wilderness Medicine

  In the Wilderness Medicine specialty track, residents with an interest in remote and environmental medicine can obtain the education and training necessary for designation as a Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM) through the Wilderness Medical Society. Residents join the Wilderness Medical Society and participate in a wide range of activities, including attending a variety of regional and national wilderness medicine conferences and workshops, giving related lectures and presentations, and taking a leadership role in planning our annual wilderness medicine conference day. 

• Emergency Ultrasonography

  This specialty track is designed for our residents who are interested in the bedside application of ultrasonography in the emergency department. The track is designed to prepare residents to successfully complete the training and qualifications to achieve RDMS (Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer) designation by the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography.