Welcome to Cincinnati! We hope you take some time to get to know our program with the pages and videos below. You can also find details on our program below and on our blog TamingtheSRU, click around to see why we love this place.
The Mission Statement of UC EM
The mission of the Department of Emergency Medicine is to provide compassionate, equitable and timely care in service to our community through innovation, collaboration and research, and to train the future of the specialty, as we have done since the birth of Emergency Medicine. Our vision is to be international leaders in emergency clinical care, education and research.
+ The History of the Residency Program
Postgraduate training in Emergency Medicine began in 1970 with the establishment of the nation’s first residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The residency started with one resident in 1970 and has flourished to its present level of 56 residents over four years of training with 14 residency positions per year. The residency has the full accreditation of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Many leaders throughout the world in both academic and clinical Emergency Medicine received their training at the University of Cincinnati. In July 1982, the Department of Emergency Medicine expanded its residency program from a three-year format to a four-year format. The benefits of a four-year training program are many, but they boil down to becoming a more experienced clinician, educator, and leader poised to embark on a fulfilling career in Emergency Medicine, rather than isolating the focus upon competence in the care for the acutely ill.
+ Career Satisfaction
The goal of your residency training is not only to train you to take care of patients well, and not just to get you a job, but to get you THE JOB. The ideal job that will fulfill your life goals. This journey is extraordinarily difficult to navigate in a mere few years out of medical school. Our training program, through the use of focused mentorship and increased elective time, allows you to explore all aspects of Emergency Medicine, including Critical Care, EMS, International, Tactical, Ultrasound, Research… if you can dream of incorporating it into your career, we can design electives that will allow you to explore it. Community Practice, Clinician-Educator, Academic Researcher, Operations Director – any of it is possible with the right training.The educational mission of our Department is to train residents to be able to function at the highest level in any Emergency Department. We strive to produce emergency physicians with the ability to become leaders in Emergency Medicine. Their clinical experiences, both as the primary caregiver and in a supervisory role, coupled with their involvement in academic pursuits, give them the opportunity to obtain faculty positions at teaching institutions upon completion of their training. We are very proud that a significant number of our alumni from our four-year program have pursued academic careers.
+ Academic Excellence
One point of focus of the four-year curriculum is developing teaching strategies in the ED. Effective bedside and didactic teaching is not innate. It is taught and learned over time. Many of our residents enjoy educating medical students and residents and we focus our curriculum on developing those skills for future careers. Much of our PGY-4 year is spent not only on patient care, but also in supervision of junior residents in preparation for a potential teaching role in the ED in the future.
+ Clinical Excellence
Four years of varied and longitudinal training in Emergency Medicine allows more mentored patient encounters, more critical care experience both in the ED and in the ICU, and more time in both Academic and Community settings to understand the differences in practice. The result is an emergency physician that can excel in any practice setting upon graduation, rather than after gaining a few more years of experience.·
The Clinical Homes of Cincinnati EM
University of Cincinnati Medical Center
Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center
The New CCHMC ED / Critical Care Tower
Curriculum
PGY-1
The first-year resident should concentrate on developing skills in individual patient evaluations, i.e. learning basic principles of decision-making in Emergency Medicine. The resident should become thorough and efficient in the performance of the history and physical examination, and should begin to develop skill in the use of diagnostic aids, treatment, consultation, and follow-up. A balance between quality and efficiency of individual patient evaluations should be stressed. A reasonable number of patients will be seen so that the resident acquires familiarity with common ED presentations. Basic procedural skills should be learned, including (but not necessarily limited to) wound repair, incision and drainage, lumbar puncture, NP scope and splint application.
| PGY-1 Rotations | |
|---|---|
| Orientation | 4 weeks |
| Emergency Medicine | 22 weeks |
| Peds EM* | 2 weeks |
| PICU | 4 weeks |
| MICU | 4 weeks |
| Ultrasound | 2 weeks |
| Peds Anesthesia | 1 week |
| EMS | 1 week |
| Plastic Surgery | 2 weeks |
| Orthopedics | 4 weeks |
| Vacation | 2 x 2 weeks |
| Community EM* | 2 weeks |
* Peds EM and Community EM are longitudinally integrated into schedules after the initial 2 week block
PGY-2
The second-year resident should concentrate on expanding and refining patient care skills and applying them efficiently to several patients simultaneously. A large number of patients will be seen so the resident develops a broad exposure. This will include all levels of acuity, including minor, major, and critically ill patients. The focus of PGY-2 year also includes continuing to develop advanced procedural skills such as intubation, central venous access, and tube thoracostomy. The resident will begin to fly on Air Care and direct on-scene medical and trauma resuscitations.
| PGY-2 Rotations | |
|---|---|
| Emergency Medicine | 28 weeks |
| Cardiac Crit Care | 4 weeks |
| NSICU | 4 weeks |
| Trauma | 4 weeks |
| OB/GYN | 4 weeks |
| Elective | 4 weeks |
| Vacation | 2 x 2 weeks |
Air Care Shifts are integrated into all EM blocks
PGY-3
The major portion of the third year is spent in the ED. The third-year resident should concentrate on broadening their exposure to and further developing efficiency in patient management. The PGY-3 is primarily responsible for the care of the most critically ill patients in the ED, providing medical direction via phone and will direct all major resuscitations. This pivotal year represents the opportunity to care for many of the most critically ill patients in the city and become comfortable in management and resuscitation.
| PGY-3 Rotations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Emergency Medicine | 36 weeks | |
| Elective | 6 weeks | |
| SICU | 4 weeks | |
| Plastic Surgery | 2 weeks | |
| Vacation | 2 x 2 weeks |
PGY-4
During the final year of training, the fourth-year resident should concentrate on the development of skills to manage an ED. This should involve a combination of direct patient care, direction of the care delivered by others, teaching of medical students and junior house officers, and monitoring patient flow. Ample time is available for professional development, research opportunities, or improvement of perceived deficits through electives.
| PGY-4 Rotations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Emergency Medicine | 32 weeks | |
| Electives | 16 weeks | |
| Vacation | 2 x 2 weeks |
Why 4 Years?
Curriculum
- Four years allows for adjustments in curriculum to meet the ever-changing demands of Emergency Medicine in the real world. It allows for the flexibility to move and add rotations that the residents feel are important. We have modified rotations most years based on resident feedback and the changing landscape of Emergency Medicine. This would have been impossible in a three-year program. Four years also allows the time to master the vast educational curriculum in Emergency Medicine to provide superior patient care.
Electives
- Elective time increases through the four years but allows for early exploration of your specialty interests and gets your started on meaningful and longitudinal projects. This culminates in 4 months of elective time 4th year, where dedicated roles and research can make an impact, or you have time to do those specialty service electives to codify those skills in your future practice.
Grand Rounds
Grand Rounds are held every Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Grand Rounds represent the didactic portion of our curriculum. The format revolves around several key components: core curriculum lectures, visiting professor lectures, evidence-based medicine lectures, case follow-ups, Journal Club, small group workshops, and Simulation experiences. Participation in lectures by both faculty and residents is required. Residents’ exposure to lecturing is a critical educational goal of the program including a variety of lectures given by each resident every year. With constructive feedback and progressively interactive modalities, residents get a wide range of experience to lecturing styles. Below is an explanation of the lectures given each year:
Grand Rounds Conference Responsibilities
PGY-1
Clinical Knowledge lecture
Clinical Diagnostics/Therapeutics lecture with an asynchronous online module posted to TamingtheSRU.com; both lectures have a PGY-4 mentor
PGY-2
Clinical Pathologic Case Presentation (with a faculty member)
Quality Improvement / Knowledge Translation lecture (a collaborative lecture with a fellow PGY-2 culminating in an evidence based practice guideline)
PGY-3
Journal Club (with podcast or twitter feed that gets posted to http://www.tamingthesru.com/)
“Taming the SRU” lecture (case follow-up on critically ill patient)
Collaborative small groups with fellow PGY-3 residents focusing on procedural competency
PGY-4
Capstone Lecture on a topic of their interest germane to EM
Simulation and Oral Boards Sessions with 3-4 groups (in collaborating with another PGY-4)
Discharge, Transfer, Treat lecture
Serve as mentor to PGY-1 lectures
Vacation and Educational Benefits
| Year | Education Funds | |
|---|---|---|
| PGY-1 | $1500 | plus $325 for digital device |
| PGY-2 | $2000 | |
| PGY-3 | $2500 | |
| PGY-4 | $2500 | plus $325 for digital device |
Vacation is to be taken at the mutual convenience of the resident and the program. Vacation is scheduled in two 2-week blocks, one in each half of the year. GME provides each resident money to purchase textbooks and to attend academic meetings, set aside in education reimbursements which change by PGY year (chart on the right). This money can be used for gym memberships up to the cost of the UC gym. There is additional $1500 funding available for those presenting scholarly activity at conferences.
Top Marathon - USA Today 2024
2nd best staycation city - wallethub 2026
Top city for Young Professionals - Forbes 2024
Top City for Street Art - USA Today 2024
Top 15 Happiest Cities - Outside Magazine
3rd best Zoo in the US - USA Today 2026
2nd best Riverwalk - USA Today 2023
5th Best ParkScore - Trust for Public Land 2026
Top City for New Grads - SmartAsset 2021
Alumni Map
Take a Flight with AirCare
explore the
Divisions of UC EM
Last from the
TamingtheSRU Blog
This. is. Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Experience
Fascial planes make plentiful places for infections to set up, and they can be some of the hardest to identify other than knowing when to suspect them and in whom. Join Dr. Martin as he goes through the most common diagnostics and therapeutics of deep space infectious