Program Facts

During your ED month you work a set number of shifts based on PGY level. All shifts are 10 hours except for Thursdays which is conference day (shifts are shorter). These 10 hour shifts include your sign out and sign on times. You are also allowed to request 3 days a month off, which our scheduling chief tries extremely hard to accommodate and usually is able to grant them.

• PGY-1 – 18 Shifts
• PGY-2 – 17 Shifts
• PGY-3 – 16 Shifts

During your shifts, there is NO graduated responsibility. You see anything that comes in the door from medication refills to critically ill patients to trauma patients. The structure of our ED is such that we do not have dedicated sections or attendings during our shifts. We pick up the next patient, regardless of location, and can present to any attending that is on. This allows for a diverse learning experience on shift, and allows you to see the variety of patient presentations in one day. During trauma activations, resident seniors (PGY-2s and PGY-3s) are at the head of the bed for primarily the airway. We are also allowed to assist in other procedures as the situation allows. Seniors also have designated shifts where they respond to Rapid Response and Code Blue throughout the hospital.

A unique feature of our program is that we respond to all rapid responses and code blues in the hospital. During your PGY-2 and PGY-3 years you get assigned shifts where you respond with our airway bag. When you arrive you are the primary for airway management. You are there to assess the patient and intervene if the team agrees it is needed. This may include something as simple as a nasal cannula or as complex as an intubation or cricothyrotomy. It gives our residents autonomy to perform but as scary as it may sound you are well prepared before you respond. During your PGY-1 year you also get the opportunity to respond as time allows to shadow your senior resident and assist with anything needed.

We see Peds EVERY shift. This is one of the highlights of our program. We do not separate the pediatric shifts from the adult shifts. While our pediatric patients are located in one physical section of our ED we see them throughout our normal ED shifts mixed with our adult patients. The only difference is we present these patients the PEM trained attendings! On top of seeing kids daily in the ED you also will rotate through the PICU as a second year! You will see a fair share of kids at St.Luke’s and definitely will not be scared of pediatric patients by the time you leave!

The schedule is made by the scheduling chief and is typically sent out at least a month before the block. Our scheduling chief tries to make the schedule follow a circadian cycle. You will be given 3 weeks of vacation to use each academic year. You are allowed to use your vacation during any rotation except MICU, SICU, and Trauma. If you take vacation on your ED month you are given a shift reduction of 4 shifts for each week you take off. *You are allowed to take two weeks off in a row only if they span two different blocks.* Vacation is use it or lose it so we really encourage all residents to take all 3 weeks each year. It is important to have a good work/life balance in order to be the best physician you can. Additionally, if you are in the ED during the last 2 weeks of the year, you will either work the week of Christmas or New Years and have the other off. These is done by preference given to the scheduling chief.

Definitely, not only is it a requirement of the ACGME for us to make sure you get all your procedures, but most residents gets the majority of their procedures done by the end of second year. To help our interns get comfortable with intubations from the very beginning during July they have a shift reduction so that they can spend time in the OR to get comfortable right away.

We are fortunate enough to use EPIC for the entire hospital. It is set up to make charting and order input as easy and efficient as possible. This includes order sets, note templates, and smartphrases. We also have DRAGON Medical, which you are allowed to use day one. Some people prefer to type, some prefer to speak. Either way you can use it with EPIC.

Our hospital also uses TigerText. This is the primary method of communication with our consultants, ancillary staff, and each other. It allows for secure and fast communication between everyone. It can be used on just the computer workstation or you can also installed it on your phone.

The hospital has a cafeteria and a Starbucks (open late). The cafeteria is full of a variety of hot freshly prepared or pre-packaged meals. There is everything from the daily special, to a salad bar, to the hot grill, and even daily made sushi. Our coffee bar, open into the late hours of the night, serves coffee, tea, a variety of pre-packaged meals, and other snacks.

We each receive a meal stipend that is renewed each year that can be used throughout the hospital for food and drinks (can even be used in the gift shop!). The stipend amount varies each year but believe me its more than enough to get you through the year. Additionally, food is discounted beyond its already reasonable costs.

Our residency never goes hungry! Every Thursday during Conference we are provided a continental breakfast as well as lunch from our local restaurants. During our monthly journal club we also are provided lunch!

Moonlighting is allowed upon approval of the Program Director. PGY-2 and PGY-3 Residents may moonlight if they have an unrestricted medical license. The hospital does not reimburse for your medical license but WILL reimburse for your DEA license. Moonlighting is also only possible if it does not interfere with your regular training, are not rotating on MICU/SICU/Trauma and does not violate duty hours (ACGME rules). You must also have completed a subset of your required procedures. You are allowed to moonlight in the network ICUs as well as in any community emergency departments in the network that do not have residents.

Ultrasound is widely incorporated in our ED as every faculty is credentialed in Ultrasound. This means a lot of experience, use in clinical decision making, and easily obtain the numbers needed for not only graduation but credentialing at your future attending job. The following are a list of the ultrasounds you will be doing in the ED.

• FAST
• Cardiac
• Right Upper Quadrant
• Pelvic
• Abdominal Aortic
• Renal
• Procedural (IV insertions, Central Lines, etc.)

Additionally, you will have a multiple choice exam during your last year so that our Ultrasound Director can provide your future employer with a letter verifying your competency with Ultrasound.

We have an extremely high retention rate with our graduates. Multiple residents either take fellowship spots or attending positions within the network based on the availability of spots. You can see more on our page of where our graduates go.

You are evaluated on a quarterly basis for a quick check in evaluation and then twice a year for a larger more formal evaluation. The evaluation consisted of attending feedback that is condensed to give back to the residents in addition to nursing anonymous feedback. You will also get feedback on your procedure logs, as well as other metrics. The metrics are purely for you to know since many jobs are metric based or at least have metrics that must be meet so we attempt to prepare our residents for the their professional jobs.

Many of our residents are married, have children prior to or during residency. There is Maternal and Paternal Leave provided. Scheduling is never an issue and the program is very supportive. No one who has had children during residency has had to make up time, we just work with you. We understand life does not stop when you enter residency and encourage everyone to live life outside of residency too.