Medical Education
We have a hybrid model of conference with one monthly conference held at the NorthShore Simulation Lab and one monthly conference held via Zoom. Additionally, one of the five hours is conducted via an asynchronous curriculum to give residents more flexibility for their learning.
Didactics
We have a rotating 1.5 year modular curriculum that covers the core topics in emergency medicine. Our conference is held on Thursday mornings (8am-noon) and residents on EM rotations have 6 hours of protected time for conference and committee meetings (8am-2pm). During this time attendings work independently and with off-service rotators in the ED. Both EM faculty and residents present during conference as well as guest speakers from inside and outside the institution. Presentations are frequently interactive including recurring formats of “EM-in-5,” “Intern Insights,” and “Senior CPC” and PGY-specific breakout sessions. Our conference is interdisciplinary with frequent involvement and presentations from Pharmacy, Cardiology, Trauma, IM, and pediatrics among others. In addition to our modular core EM content, we also have various longitudinal curricula including “Wellness,” “Trauma Informed Care and Interpersonal Violence,” “Anti-racism,” “Diversity Equity and Inclusion Series,” and “Professional Development.”
Asynchronous Curriculum
The asynchronous curriculum allows residents to learn when it is best for them. To fulfill their one-hour requirement for the week, residents may choose from a variety of FOAMed and residency provided resources, including podcasts, videos, and blogs. After reading, listening, or watching the content, residents submit key learning points that are used later in the year at the “Asynchronous Competitions” which are held during regularly scheduled didactic time to reinforce and review key concepts from the asynchronous material.
Teaching Resident
Our PGY-3s have a 4-week rotation as the “Teaching Resident.” During this rotation, the primary responsibility is to help medical students and junior residents with procedures and the management of complicated medical patients as well as to provide feedback to junior learners. During this month, they are also responsible for creating “chalk talks” (or whiteboard talks) to educate all of the ED providers about critical EM topics.