Scholarly Tracks

SIUEM has created scholarly tracks to give residents with an interest in a particular field of Emergency Medicine guidance to increase their knowledge and skills while preparing them for fellowship training if desired.  Each track will begin towards the end of PGY-1 or the beginning of the PGY-2 year. It is at this time a resident will have had time to foster an interest in a particular subspecialty track. It will be during this time in their training they will begin meeting with a faculty sponsor to guide them through their subspecialty track.

During the PGY-2 year a resident will work to achieve the primary requirements of a track. These requirements are meant to improve the resident's understanding of the area of interest while also preparing for advancement in the three facets of promotion; teaching, service and scholarly activity. Once the primary requirements are completed the resident will have a better understanding and skill set in the area of specialization and can formally declare their track which will be continued during their PGY-3 year. These primary requirements will also aid a resident with fellowship application.

The PGY-3 resident will then work to achieve the final requirements of a track. When achieved the resident will graduate with distinction in the track area. The final requirements will be designed to prepare a resident for fellowship and will be geared towards giving back to the residency in the areas of service, teaching, and scholarly activity.

EMS

Faculty sponsor: Dr. Jason Kegg

There is an inexorable link between pre-hospitals skills and the care delivered in the Emergency Department.  The EMS Subspecialty Track will offer interested residents a longitudinal educational opportunity to not only give an experiential basis for the understanding of pre-hospital operations but also give further collegial experience in the tacit learning of this integral relationship with our system providers. Experiences will also prepare residents to serve as community-based EMS medical directors after graduation or for continued education in an EMS Fellowship while introducing residents to various subspecialties of EMS/Prehospital Care.

Experiences with the EMS track will include shifts with local ambulance and fire agencies.  There will be optional flight experience if desired.  As residents progress through the track they will work closely with our EMS administrations to review and implement protocols as well educate our prehospital providers. In the final phases of the track the resident will serve as an Assistant Medical Director with one of our agencies.

Ultrasound

Faculty sponsor: Dr. Jonathan dela Cruz

The goal of the ultrasound subspecialty track is to provide a resident instruction and mentorship to further develop their skills with bedside ultrasound. At graduation, the resident should obtain a milestone level of greater than 4 in PC12 Goal-directed focused ultrasound and will have expertise in bedside teaching of ultrasound and will have contributed to the emergency ultrasound specialty through scholarly activity.

As the resident progresses through the track they will gain extensive experience with the bedside implementation of ultrasound technology.  With experience they will instruct students and fellow residents on ultrasound techniques. There will be an emphasis on quality analysis of bedside ultrasounds performed within our Emergency Departments and becoming proficient with ultrasound guided procedures.  Ultrasound track participants will actively mentor students in the Ultrasound Interest Group.

Critical Care

Faculty sponsor:

The goal of the Emergency Medicine Critical Care Track is to provide a resident with a deeper exposure to critical care medicine in the practice of Emergency Medicine and throughout the hospital.  The track will also provide instruction and mentorship in furthering specialization in critical care beyond residency. At graduation, the resident will have developed a focus in performing and teaching resuscitation in the emergency department and ICU setting and will have produced scholarly activity related to critical care or emergency resuscitation. The tract will also provide guidance over the process of applying to and preparing for a critical care fellowship if this is the resident’s goal.

Specific activities within the critical care track will include critical care elective time with an emphasis on procedures such as bronchoscopy and point of care ultrasound. Other educational opportunities will include Fundamentals of Critical Care and Emergency Neurologic Life Support. During the PGY-3 critical care track participants will be instructors for onboarding residents teaching critical care concepts and procedures.

Simulation and Education

Faculty sponsors: Dr. Richard Austin and Jonathan dela Cruz

The goal of the Simulation and Education subspecialty track is to provide a resident instruction and mentorship to further develop their skills as a medical educator. This will include developing expertise in adult learning theory, bedside teaching, feedback/debriefing techniques, medical education curricular development, and effective evaluation techniques with many of the development activities centered around simulation-based education. At graduation, the resident will be able to effectively incorporate bedside teaching and evaluation of learners into their everyday practice, and will have contributed to the field of emergency medicine having developed a publishable educational curriculum to teach and assess learners on a critical aspect of emergency medicine training.

Residents within the simulation and education track will learn about Knowles theory, Bloom's taxonomy, the Kern model and debrief techniques such as Plus Delta and PEARLS.  The resident will be an active educator with students and residents at the Memorial Center for Learning and Innovation, a state-of-the-art medical simulation center.  Culmination of the track will include development of new curricular tools for Emergency Medicine students and residents.

Toxicology

Faculty sponsor: Dr. James Waymack

The toxicology track is designed to provide the Emergency Medicine resident with a better understanding of the basic tenets of toxicology, working within the field of toxicology, and contributing to the program by enriching toxicological-related education.  Participants will be expected to educate Emergency Medicine students and residents regarding toxicologic topics in the classroom and the simulation lab.  The resident will also present toxicology related prehospital lectures to local EMS agencies. Elective experiences will be arranged with regional partners to provide a clinical toxicology experience. Scholarly activity within this track will include a toxicology publication or curricular development.