Emergency Medicine Rotation

The goal of the rotation in emergency medicine is to teach medical students the necessary skills to take care of patients with a wide variety of undifferentiated urgent and emergent conditions. Students learn how to approach patients with common and potentially life-threatening complaints (such as chest pain, headache, abdominal pain, and many others). Emphasis is placed on teaching how to develop a working differential diagnosis and how to appropriately narrow it. During the rotation, students have the opportunity to gain proficiency in rapidly collecting data and performing focused physical examinations appropriate for the acutely or urgently ill patient.

Students function as an effective and essential part of the emergency medical team in the patient assessment, stabilization, and management of a variety of acute medical and surgical conditions. Students learn to formulate appropriately organized and succinct medical records  and problem lists. Students are familiarized with the indications, limitations, and methodology of emergency department (ED) diagnostic procedures and introduced to the multifaceted psychological, social, and economic challenges faced in an emergency medical setting.

Students function under the direct supervision of the ED faculty. During the rotation, students attend departmental conferences, lectures, skills labs, and teaching rounds. Evaluations are based on clinical performance, written examination, and case-log presentations.