Our people, our approach, our facilities, and our training will make a difference in your career.
Advantages of our program
The emergency medicine (EM) training program at the University of Iowa Health Care is a three-year program and provides each resident physician with a diverse experience.
- Outstanding, nationally recognized clinical faculty who have trained all over the country. Teachers who recognize that UI Health Care is a very special place and have come here to help create a world-class teaching institution.
- Abundant clinical experience comes from our burgeoning patient census, and more than a fifth of our patients are pediatric.
- University of Iowa is one of the top research institutions in the nation providing unparalleled resources. Our department has many ongoing clinical, basic science, and translational research projects.
- We have a diverse faculty with expertise in critical care, ultrasound, simulation, sports medicine, social medicine, emergency medicine services, toxicology, and others.
- Our Emergency Department supports a team full of clinical pharmacists who assist with patient care and is highly involved in our research programs.
- We have 24 hours a day of full social work support dedicated to the Emergency Department.
Our Facilities
- 60,000 square foot Emergency Department that contains 45 beds.
- One of two Level 1 trauma centers and burn center in Iowa.
- Medical Center University is a 811-bed hospital.
Program accreditation
The Emergency Medicine residency at UI Healthcare University Campus is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Information specific to program requirements for an emergency medicine training program may be found at the ACGME’s Emergency Medicine Residency Review Committee (RRC).
Physician Scientist Training Pathway (PSTP)
The University of Iowa Department of Emergency Medicine Physician Scientist Training Pathway (PSTP) integrates postgraduate clinical and research training to develop physician-scientists who will be future leaders in academic emergency medicine. The PSTP is a pathway within the Emergency Medicine Residency Program and combines graduate medical education with the rich collaborative research community at UI Health Care.
Curriculum
An 18-month curriculum is in place that covers the “Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine.”
In addition to lectures, the residency incorporates case presentations and small group discussions into the usual content. The Residency utilizes the "Foundations of Emergency Medicine" cases for interactive case discussion. Additionally, there are routinely hands on sessions that include simulation cases (including annual SimWars), procedures labs, ultrasound, as well as mock-oral boards.
The residency supports asynchronous learning through the utilization of ROSH Review question based learning as well as utilizing AliemU for online learning resources.
Journal Club
Journal Club is held monthly at a faculty member’s home. The articles are selected by faculty members as well as residents. The objective of journal club is two-fold: to keep up to date on medical literature pertinent to the practice of emergency medicine and to learn the essentials of evidence-based medicine. Food is provided by the faculty host!
Conferences
Topic: Cardiovascular/TEAM Thursday/Psych
Topic Coordinator: JVH/D. Miller/Shekem/Pomeranz/Wild
Location: EM Auditorium, 0070 RCP (Elevator F to LL, left off elevator, left at first doorway, through double doors, left at first hallway)
Clinical experiences
The Emergency Medicine residents get a longitudinal EMS experience starting as interns with exposure to local EMS agencies during orientation month, required ambulance ride along throughout all years of residency, and event medicine coverage at Iowa Hawkeyes football games, basketball games, and wrestling matches culminating in a 2-week EMS month during the third year.
Additional education opportunities
Fellowships are available in EMS, Critical Care, Sports Medicine, Medical Education, Social Medicine, Toxicology, Research, Ultrasound, and Palliative Care. Optional Wilderness Medicine course taught mainly in the mountains of Colorado by Iowa faculty. Moonlighting is available in the surrounding communities to eligible PGY-3 residents.
Medical simulation
Medical simulation is used extensively within the residency training program. The residency has a full-time simulation director who coordinates this area of the residency curriculum. Residents receive training using high-fidelity simulators to augment their clinical experience.
Cedar Rapids medical center
The residency program has a close relationship with our partner community hospital in Cedar Rapids, with residents spending several months learning there. This allows residents to experience patient care not only in a large academic center, but also at a large community hospital.
Washington rotation
Residents have access to an optional emergency medicine rotation at a nationally ranked critical access hospital in Washington, Iowa to gain experience in yet another patient care setting.
Rotations
All required Emergency Medicine and other required rotations are scheduled at the UI Health Care on University Campus or at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. St. Luke’s is an approximate 30-minute drive from the University of Iowa (25 miles).
Elective rotations can be scheduled at UI Health Care, or in a number of other locations including internationally.
Our third-year emergency medicine residents have the opportunity to serve as flight physicians in Iowa's Air and Mobile Critical Care Services Program with bases across eastern Iowa. They respond to the scene of motor vehicle accidents and other major traumas. They also participate in the interfacility transfer of patients with conditions such as intracranial hemorrhage, stroke, myocardial infarction, and sepsis. Flight physicians have the ability to perform procedures on flights as well as assist the flight crew with management of these critically ill patients.
Rotations Schedule
Each rotation is 4 weeks, unless noted otherwise.
UI Health Care EM in second and third year will be comprised of both adult and pediatric EM shifts.
- Total Number of EM Weeks: 106
- Total Number of Weeks: 156
- Time in EM: 68%
Year 1
| Rotation | Location | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UI Health Care | Intro to Emergency Medicine (EM) |
| 2-5 | UI Health Care | EM |
| 6 | UI Health Care | Ultrasound (1) EM (1) Pediatric EM (2) |
| 7 | UI Health Care – University | Anesthesia (3) Quality Improvement (1) |
| 8 | UI Health Care | Sports Medicine (2) EM Orthopedics (2) |
| 10 | UI Health Care | Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) |
| 11 | UI Health Care | Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery (2) Burn (2) |
| 12 | UI Health Care, St. Lukes | EM (1), Obstetrics (3) |
| 13 | UI Health Care | EM (2) Pediatric EM (2) |
Year 2
| Rotation | Location | FOcus |
|---|---|---|
| 1-5 | UI Health Care | EM |
| 6-7 | St. Luke's | EM |
| 8 | UI Health Care | Toxicology |
| 9 | UI Health Care | Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) |
| 10 | UI Health Care | Surgical and Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit (SNICU) |
| 11 | UI Health Care | EM |
| 12-13 | UI Health Care | Elective |
Year 3
| Rotation | Location | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1-8 | UI Health Care | EM |
| 9 | St. Luke's | EM |
| 10 | UI Health Care | EMS (2) EM (2) |
| 11 | UI Health Care | SNICU |
| 12-13 | UI Health Care | Elective |
Training Locations
University of Iowa Health Care - University Campus
- Patient Volume: >50,000
- Pediatrics represent 18% of total volume
- Trauma represents 22% of total volume
- >35% admission rate with >5% being admitted to an intensive care setting
- Recently constructed, state of the art, 45 bed, 60,000 square foot Emergency Department
- Newly constructed pediatric area
- Level 1 Trauma Center
- Comprehensive Stroke Center
- Specialized trauma, ophthalmologic, dental, and psychiatric rooms
- State-of-the-art ultrasound platforms in the ED
- Advanced imaging modalities located within the department
- Full time dedicated ED based emergency pharmacist support
- Twenty-four hours per day dedicated ED social work support
St. Luke’s Medical Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Patient Volume: >50,000
- Pediatrics represents 19% of total volume
- Trauma patients represent 15% of total volume
- 20% admission rate with 3% being admitted to an intensive care setting
- Level III Trauma Center