The Integrated Residency in Emergency Medicine is a comprehensive three-year training program (PGY 1,2,3 format) designed to provide broad-based clinical and didactic teaching in an environment of concern for high-quality patient care and resident education.

Rotations

The EM-1 year consists of rotations in emergency medicine, internal medicine, trauma, inpatient pediatrics, CCU, OB-GYN, anesthesia (adult and pediatric), radiology, psychiatry and dentistry. All EM-1 residents are required to obtain certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) as part of the program. Training in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) begins in the first year during the emergency department rotation when all residents are required to ride in ground ambulances along with paramedics. Half of the program's second year is spent in the emergency departments at Hartford Hospital and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. The rest of the EM-2 year consists of rotations in the medical ICU, surgical ICU, orthopedics, hand/plastics, ultrasound and ophthalmology. Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), an EMS base station course and ultrasound training is taught to all EM-2 residents during the PGY2 year. With faculty support, each EM-2 resident chooses and begins a research project or other equivalent scholarly pursuit to be completed by the end of the EM-3 year. Most of the EM-3 year is spent in the emergency departments at Hartford Hospital, John-Dempsey Hospital and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. There are also rotations in trauma, administration/EMS, toxicology, and a four-week elective. Every year, 3 residents are chosen to serve as Chief Residents for the program.

Didactics

The didactic program of the Integrated Residency in Emergency Medicine is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, three-year curriculum designed to cover areas important to the practice of emergency medicine. Following is a description of some of the conference series that we offer. Many other specialty conferences also occur on a routine basis and are always available for resident involvement.

Morning Report
A one-hour morning report is attended by residents working either the day or overnight shift.  It is held on Monday through Friday, and includes topics such as trauma, pediatrics, adult medicine, oral board review and skills lab.

Core Content Series
This two-hour weekly lecture series is the formal presentation of the core curriculum for emergency medicine over a three-year period. Some topics are repeated annually.

Practical Conference
Year-specific practical conferences are held bimonthly for two hours each week.

EM-1 conferences cover areas including patient assessment, laboratory use in the Emergency Department, radiographic ordering and interpretation, ECG interpretation, and frequently used drugs in the Emergency Department.

EM-2 conferences concentrate on a comprehensive review of emergency procedures.

EM-3 conferences deal with administrative aspects of emergency medicine including departmental management issues, ethical dilemmas and medical-legal discussions. Seminars addressing topics pertinent to future employment and opportunities in the field of emergency medicine are also discussed.

All year directed conferences include monthly sessions held in the Connecticut Simulation Center.

Continued Quality Improvement
A monthly two-hour conference and discussion is held which examines cases seen in the department where an adverse outcome resulted, or had the potential to occur.

Grand Rounds
Topics of current educational importance to the specialty of emergency medicine are introduced at this monthly interdepartmental conference. Guest speakers from outside the institutions, other department members, and emergency medicine faculty members are invited to present.

Case Conference
Residents and faculty present cases of interest monthly followed by a group discussion.

Journal Club
This two-hour monthly conference is typically held at a faculty member’s home.  It is designed to critically review literature pertinent to emergency medicine and enhance the residents' ability to analyze data and keep abreast of new developments in the field. Controversial ideas related to the specialty are also discussed.

Resident Meeting
Each month the residents have an opportunity to get together to discuss matters regarding the residency program. A summary of these issues is communicated to the program director by our chiefs for a timely resolution of resident concerns