Emergency Medicine Block Schedule
View the Emergency Medicine Residency Curriculum
Note:
- During PGY 2 and PGY 3 years, Pediatric EM shifts will be incorporated into all UVMMC EM blocks longitudinally.
- Orientation will include clinical UVM Medical Center EM shifts, search and rescue training, ultrasound training, didactic sessions, simulation/procedural skills sessions and team building activities.
- Anesthesia and Ultrasound is combined, with Anesthesia in the morning and ultrasound in the afternoon, and this rotation is split into 2-week blocks at UVMMC and CVMC.
Wilderness Medicine
We are excited to offer our residents a high-quality longitudinal wilderness medicine curriculum. Our intern orientation will include a hike up one of our highest local peaks and cover some fundamental skills in caring for patients in austere and remote environments. Our weekly conferences will include both classroom didactics and outdoor hands-on sessions, covering the American Board of Emergency Medicine Core Content relating to wilderness medicine.
Interested residents will be offered mentorship to develop teaching and leadership roles as they progress through the curriculum. Residents interested in pursuing a career in academic wilderness medicine will be supported in developing research and educational projects, with opportunities for presentation at our developing Wilderness Medicine Conference in Burlington, VT and at nationally recognized research forums. Residents who wish to pursue skills within the subspecialty will have opportunities to participate in search and rescue (SAR) teams, work alongside ski patrol, and utilize expedition medicine skills. Our graduating residents will not only have competence in wilderness medicine core content, but will be equipped to actively participate in wilderness and event medical care, take leadership roles in wilderness and rescue organizations, or successfully enter a wilderness medicine fellowship program.
Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Our mission is to provide high quality care to children throughout Vermont and northern New York. Vermont is a tight knit community and PEM is no exception. We work closely with our community pediatricians as well as our pediatric hospitalists and specialists at the Vermont Children’s Hospital to provide excellent care. Our patients range from ambulatory pediatrics to children with chronic medical diseases, and critically ill or injured children. We take pride in being able to provide care for the entire breadth of pediatric emergency medicine.
We also have a strong commitment to education with rotating residents from emergency medicine, pediatrics and family medicine. Additionally, we have an integrated role in the medical student emergency medicine rotation. On the nonclinical side, we give lectures to both pediatric and emergency medicine residents as well as participate in administration relating to quality improvement and other care issues surrounding children presenting to the emergency department.
Global Health
The Larner College of Medicine (LCOM) and the Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) have created a collaborative partnership to support global health learning and elective opportunities for students, residents and staff. Our global health experiences focus on sustainable bi-directional medical education partnerships for not only our residents and students at UVM, but also our partnering institutions’ learners. We currently have longstanding partnerships in Uganda, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Russia and the Dominican Republic.
Visit the Global Health website for information specific to the program.
Residents in the Division of Emergency Medicine will have up to eight weeks of elective time that can be used toward global health electives. Opportunities will include, but are not limited to, sites established with the Larner College of Medicine and GEC in Uganda. The global health faculty have diverse experiences in Central America, South America, South East Asia and Africa. Mentorship and field experience will be available in additional regions of interest with partners that have been established all over the world. Additional opportunities may include partnership with major international health policy and advocacy organizations. Residents interested in careers in Global Health will be paired with an experienced faculty member who will serve as a longitudinal mentor throughout residency and beyond.
Point-of-Care Ultrasound
The University of Vermont Division of Emergency Medicine Section of Clinical Ultrasound was established in 2012 to promote excellence in the diagnostic and procedural application of bedside sonography. Focus was initially on the education of UVMMC faculty and regional Emergency Physicians, promoting the highest regional standards of patient care through the use of point of care ultrasound (POCUS). This included the procurement of advanced ultrasound systems and building a state of the art interface between those POCUS systems, the EMR, and PACS. The program has grown to include a 4th year medical student elective, a 4-year longitudinal POCUS curriculum at the UVM Larner College of Medicine, a Trans-esophageal Echocardiography (TEE) program, a research program and an active EM POCUS interest group. The program also coordinates with the UVM Sim Lab to offer diverse continuing medical educational POCUS opportunities supporting EM and other medical specialties. These include Echo-guided Life Support (EGLS), weekly image review/didactic sessions, and regular hands-on workshops supporting integration of POCUS for clinical care. Ultrasound Section faculty are active participants in regional, national, and international POCUS development. This includes supporting the successful implementation of POCUS programs in resource-limited settings through education and through remote quality assurance image review.
The UVMMC ED Ultrasound Section longitudinal residency curriculum supports comprehensive resident training in ultrasound with the expectation that residency graduates excel in the clinical application of ultrasound as a core aspect of emergency medical care. The curriculum includes an initial intensive POCUS “boot camp,” dedicated scanning shifts during each EM rotation, weekly image review/didactic sessions, and the opportunity for an advanced elective and POCUS research. Residents will become facile at all core ACEP scanning applications and in the use of TEE for critical resuscitation. Senior residents will have the opportunity to become local and international mentors in POCUS education and in ultrasound research.
The UVM Medical Center ED Ultrasound Section’s research program works in coordination with the UVM EMRAP program. We focus on new applications for point of care ultrasound and on outcome studies examining the impact of point of care ultrasound on patient care. These include multidisciplinary projects with other specialties including radiology, urology and critical care.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
The University of Vermont Medical Center Emergency Medicine Program offers residents and medical students outstanding training in progressive prehospital care in a rural EMS system. EMS is a critical component of Emergency Medicine and our curriculum is designed to prepare future leaders in the field of EMS with an understanding of the unique principals of prehospital care and medical direction. It also provides the motivated emergency medicine resident with the background necessary for entry into an accredited EMS Fellowship program. The residency program works closely with both regional and state Vermont EMS to provide a wide range of opportunities including urban, rural and wilderness practice environments.
Our 2nd year residents will function as EMS physicians joining local Paramedic EMS agencies as part of the team providing direct patient care. This hands-on training provides opportunities for the resident to gain valuable experience in the challenges of providing patient care and medical direction in the prehospital setting. Medical students may arrange ride-alongs with local EMS agencies and highly interested residents may arrange additional opportunities with escalating responsibilities.
Emergency Medicine residents will complete an EMS Medical Direction Training Program. During all EM rotations, PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents will provide online medical direction to EMS under the supervision of EM faculty. During the 2nd year EMS rotation, residents will review prehospital cases for quality assurance and performance improvement and present at the monthly EMS case review. Residents will also have opportunities to work on larger scale State of Vermont EMS performance reviews, protocol development, and education, including teaching for the paramedic school and the annual Vermont EMS Conference.
Residents and medical students may participate in ongoing EMS research or develop independent projects with faculty support. Vermont is one of the most rural EMS systems in the nation and serves as an excellent laboratory for rural EMS research.
Toxicology
For the Emergency Medicine physician, poisoning is a common chief complaint for patients encountered in the ED. The UVM EM residency therefore features a longitudinal toxicology curriculum that teaches residents the basics of caring for critically ill poisoned patients. Common overdoses, their recognition, and their management will be discussed in a variety of didactic formats, ranging from case discussions to simulation. Our “Pick your Poison” series allows residents to teach their colleagues about a drug, chemical, poison, or venom of their choice.
Residents who have additional interest in medical toxicology may take advantage of our close collaboration with the Northern New England Poison Center (NNEPC), located in Portland, ME. The NNEPC fields calls from both laypersons and medical professionals from Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Residents will assist physicians who seek guidance in caring for require help taking care of critically ill poisoned patients under supervision from our medical toxicologists. This elective is accompanied by structured didactics that allow for in-depth understanding of the toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics of select poisons, as well as their treatment.
Critical Care Medicine
Our mission is to prepare our residents to provide top notch care for critically ill emergency department patients. The care in the first few hours of the critically ill effect long-term outcomes. In rural settings, emergency physicians must be ready to independently stabilize and manage the sickest patients. In addition to our enthusiastic Emergency Medicine, Pulmonary and Surgical Critical Care faculty, we have dually boarded faculty in Emergency Medicine and Critical Care.
We are all excited to teach you critical care medicine while you are rotating in the ICU or on a high acuity shift in the ED. Through ICU rotations, regular didactics and procedural training you will graduate from our program ready to confidently manage the sickest patients throughout your career.
For those with a particular interest in critical care medicine there will be opportunities for additional training, research, and critical care education. If you choose to pursue a critical care fellowship, we will make sure you are well prepared.