Curriculum

Emergency Medicine - Curriculum

Years | Rotations | Conferences | Training| Research | Electives

The Emergency Medicine annual curriculum provides specific educational objectives and progressive responsibility for each year of training.

First Year

The first year of Emergency Medicine resident (EM1) concentrates on developing skills in individual patient evaluation and management, focusing on the basic principles of medical decision making and acquiring knowledge base of the core principles of Emergency Medicine.  The EM1 becomes proficient in the performance of the history & physical examination and begins to develop skills in the use of diagnostic tests, initiating treatment, requesting consultation, developing treatment plans, and arranging follow-up.  Basic procedural skill acquisition is an important part of the first year of training.

Second Year

Second year residents (EM2) concentrate on expanding and refining patient management skills. He or she develops skills necessary to manage several patients simultaneously and broaden the scope of his or her expertise. This year, the EM2 residents are trained as EMS command physicians and are involved in the direction of the care provided by EMS systems. Participation in major medical and trauma resuscitations and advanced procedural skills are an integral part of this year of training. During this year the resident will be introduced to community practice Emergency Medicine.

Third Year

The third year Emergency Resident (EM3) concentrates on broadening exposure and developing efficiency. The EM3 begins to develop skills in the supervision of junior EM and off-service residents and medical students in case management and clinical procedures, including airway management.  The EM3 provides direct on-line medical supervision to Philadelphia and surrounding EMS systems. During this year, the resident assumes more responsibility in community based Emergency Medicine practice, in addition to assuming more academic responsibilities, providing lectures and conferences as a part of their regular activities.

Fourth Year

The EM4 residents concentrate on developing the managerial skills necessary to run a busy Emergency Department (ED). He or she is responsible for the supervision of junior EM and off-service residents as well as medical and physician assistant students directing care for all patients managed in the ED. In addition, EM4 residents direct trauma and medical resuscitations. In parallel with their responsibilities in the clinical setting, the EM4 residents have an expanded role in the didactic curriculum, supervising weekly case conferences and providing advanced, evidence-based seminars on selected topics from the core curriculum.

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Rotations

(Residents have 15 vacation days spread throughout the year, 5 days additional off during Holidays in Block 7, and additional personal days during the year.)

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Didactics & Conferences

The lecture curriculum is novel in the Emergency Residency at Einstein. We incorporate joint lectures for the division with significant faculty participation, addressing evolving topics in the field, as well as a split curriculum for Junior and Senior house staff, so that core content may be taught at level-appropriate timing during a resident’s training.

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Procedural Training

The procedural training curriculum occurs during two intensive weeks in December and January.  During these training experiences, all residents are excused from other rotation responsibilities to develop the psychomotor skills to improve as an emergency physician. Below is a sample curriculum (labs will vary over a four year training interval).

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Curriculum Research Requirements

The faculty's dedication to emergency medicine research is one vital component that makes the Einstein Medical Center program unique. Yearly, Einstein emergency medicine faculty, residents and fellows present abstracts at both ACEP and SAEM's national scientific assemblies. Other achievements include grants and publications, as well as oral and poster presentations at ACEP and ACOEP annual conferences. The number of ongoing research studies is continually growing in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Residents are involved in research projects beginning with their first year of training.

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Curriculum Subspecialty or Electives

SPECIAL SERVICES

Emergency Medical Services

Prehospital care is an integral part of the mission of the Department of Emergency Medicine. All attending physicians and residents receive EMS training and are certified as medical command physicians by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Contemporaneous medical direction of pre-hospital patient care is performed on a daily basis in the emergency department. Einstein Medical Center is one of only five medical command facilities for the city of Philadelphia and is responsible for providing on-line medical direction to paramedics on fire rescue units and provides direct medical control for four non-municipal ambulance services. The Medical Center’s Department of Emergency Medicine has forged a solid working relationship with the Einstein EMS Education Center and the Jefferson Health System Great Valley Ambulance Company. This alliance combines the expertise of each entity to form an effective EMS education, medical oversight and transportation system. Among our many activities, we facilitate the transport of patients from outlying institutions and hospitals to Einstein Medical Center.  

The emergency department  maintains a response plan to provide a physician triage and field surgical response team in the event of a mass casualty event. The Emergency Preparedness Committee is responsible for keeping the medical center in a state of readiness for both internal and external disasters. External disasters can include a vast range of multiple casualty events such as weather calamity or natural disaster, episodes of civil unrest, and radiation or hazardous material accidents. Internal disasters can include any event that overburdens the normally available resources within the medical center. In addition, Einstein Medical Center residents and attending physicians have provided on-site medical support upon request for special events locally in and around the city of Philadelphia.  

The Einstein EMS Education Center offers both residents and Einstein employees training in Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS). Einstein Medical Center also is an American Heart Association (AHA)-approved Community Training Center that serves as a resource to other facilities in the Southeastern Pennsylvania/Delaware AHA Affiliate.  

The Pennsylvania Department of Health accredits the EMS Education Center, and we are a state leader in training prehospital care providers. Our emergency medical technician (EMT) and paramedic programs educate more providers each year than most other programs within Pennsylvania and train students from all over the tri- state area. The EMS Education Center is in the process of a formal affiliation with the Thomas Jefferson University School of Allied Health.  

The emergency department sponsors a two-year fellowship in emergency medical services under the direction of Anne Klimke, MD, and Molly Furin, MD. To date, ten fellows have graduated from the program and have used their training to  secure a variety of leadership positions in EMS.  

Many of our faculty members serve on committees and taskforces for state and national EMS organizations. These include the DMAT and FEMA teams, Regional Medical Advisory Committee, the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council (PEHSC) and the Pennsylvania Medical Advisory Committee, the National Association of EMS Physicians, the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, the American College of Emergency Physicians (AECP) and the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians (ACOEP).

In addition, our faculty and staff frequently lecture to local audiences including the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council Annual Statewide EMS Conference.