10 Reasons to Choose EVMS


Selecting the best Emergency Medicine residency program for you is one of the most important decisions you will make, and you want it to be an informed one.  We feel EVMS has an outstanding training program and the track record to prove it.  We are one of the oldest Emergency Medicine residency programs and one of the oldest academic departments of Emergency Medicine in the U.S.  We have been training outstanding EM physicians for a long time. I would like to share some of the strengths of our program, and consider EVMS for your Emergency Medicine residency training: 

 

Outstanding Training:  Our program offers outstanding clinical experiences, a well thought out and organized didactic curriculum, and multiple Vivarium and Simulation Lab experiences, all in a friendly and supportive learning environment.  You will leave EVMS extremely well trained, and able to run any Emergency Department in the country – be it urban, suburban or rural. 

 

Award Winning Faculty:  We take the responsibility of teaching seriously.  We have four ACEP National Faculty Teaching Award recipients (Drs’. Knapp, Bono, Graffeo, and Munter), a Council of Residency Directors (CORD) Emergency Medicine Faculty Teaching Award winner (Dr. Knapp), the 2003 EMRA Residency Director of the Year recipient (Dr. Counselman), and the ACGME Parker Palmer Courafage to Teach Award winner (Dr. Counselman).  In addition, our faculty have received numerous Medical School and state teaching awards.  You will be taught by some of the very best teachers in Emergency Medicine.  See “The Faculty”.

 

Variety of Facilities:  You will spend the majority of your training at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital (SNGH), a Level 1 Trauma, tertiary care referral center.  This is a university hospital experience, with all of the EVMS residencies based at SNGH.  In addition, you will gain valuable experience in a busy community hospital ED at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital (SVBGH), just a few minutes from the oceanfront.  A Level III Trauma center, you and the Emergency Medicine attending physician will run all trauma alerts.  You will also rotate at Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk, Virginia. Although only 25 minutes driving distance from our primary training site, this ED is in a rural area of southwest Virginia, and provides you a great experience and appreciation for rural Emergency Medicine.  Finally, you will spend 4.5 months of your training at the Childrens Hospital of the Kings Daughters (CHKD), the only dedicated pediatric hospital in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and attached to the primary training site (SNGH).  You will graduate our program with firsthand experience in all types of EM practice: university; community; and rural emergency medicine. See “Facilities”.

 

Publications:  For the last five years, every resident has graduated the program with at least one peer-reviewed publication; many graduates leave with several publications to their credit.  Each year, the faculty and residents author approximately 30 peer-reviewed articles and chapters in the leading texts of our specialty.  If you are interested in an academic career, we will get you started early. See “Publications”.

 

Sentara Health Systems:  Most of your training will be in three Sentara hospitals.  The Sentara Health System is recognized nationally, and has been on the list of the 100 most integrated health systems in the country, as ranked by Modern Healthcare magazine, for the last 13 years.  In 2010, Sentara was rated the #1 System on that list.  In addition, Sentara has regularly appeared on the U.S. News and World Report Best Hospitals list for a number of its clinical programs.  For the last 11 years, the Sentara Heart program has been in the top 50 in the U.S.  All Sentara hospitals use electronic medical records (EMR) with computerized physician order entry and clinical support tools.

 

Academic Department of Emergency Medicine:  There are huge benefits to receiving your Emergency Medicine residency training within an academic department of Emergency Medicine, as opposed to being a division or section of another specialty.  We were the first academic department of Emergency Medicine in Virginia and only the 26th in the nation. 

 

Pediatric Experience:  Our program is unique in its complete integration of pediatric training during your three years with us.  All of our hospital EDs are undifferentiated and see a large number of pediatric patients.  For this reason, during your 19 months of Emergency Medicine rotations, you will see and treat kids.  In addition, you will rotate for one month each year in the ED of the Childrens Hospital of the Kings Daughters (CHKD), under the supervision of Pediatric Emergency Medicine faculty .  During your EM-2 year, you will spend one month in their Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and gain valuable experience in managing critically ill infants and children.  Finally, during the EM-2 year, you will also spend two weeks on Pediatric Anesthesia, gaining hands-on experience in the management of pediatric airways.  All in all, during 24 of your 36 months of residency training, you will be evaluating and managing pediatric patients.  You will feel very comfortable taking care of children.

 

Fellowship Opportunities:  Our Department offers a one year ED Ultrasound Fellowship, which follows the SAEM guidelines for ED US fellowship training, and meets the ACEP criteria for credentialing.  Three of our faculty are Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (RDMS) certified.  For more information, see “Fellowships”.  In addition, the EVMS Department of Pediatrics offers a Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship for graduates of Pediatric residency programs (three year fellowship) or Emergency Medicine residency programs (two year fellowship). 

 

Research:  Our faculty are very involved in clinical research, specializing in the areas of EMS, Ultrasound, airway, pulmonary emergencies, and disaster response.  Residents, with the help and support of faculty, are expected to complete a research project during their training.  Each year, we have several residents and faculty present their research at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Annual Meeting and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Research Forum; the program pays all of your associated costs. Our faculty and the residents have been recognized with the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians “John P. McDade Award for Research in Emergency Medical Care” numerous times for the quality of their research.

 

Location:  Norfolk – Virginia Beach is a great place to live, work and have fun.  There are 35 miles of beach along the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay.  If you like the water, there are plenty of opportunities for swimming, fishing, boating, kayaking, or just relaxing on a beautiful stretch of beach.  Downtown Norfolk has several blocks of great restaurants, bars, and music venues.  Old Dominion University in Norfolk provides a great opportunity for watching college football, basketball or attending concerts.  Our beautiful weather allows for nearly nine months of the year outside comfortably.  The mountains are only a few hours away for hiking, skiing, or camping, and Washington, DC is just a three hour drive.  See “The Fun”.