The NMCSD EM Residency Program follows a 24 month academic schedule, which focuses on a different organ system or aspect of Emergency Medicine per block. The program utilizes Tintinalli's Emergency Medicine for the text and there will be assigned chapters from the book every week which correspond to the system reviewed during that block.

Academic conference takes place every Wednesday from 0800 until 1300. Attendance is required for all trainees unless on an ICU rotation, on an overnight NMCSD ED shift, or on leave/excused. Residents and attendings give lectures on topics based upon the academic calendar. There is also a weekly reading quiz; the results are tracked, so make sure to read. Lectures are broken up by EM Foundations, oral boards style cases, which are paired with the calendar as well, and are designed to improve critical thinking skills and clinical judgment. The program also has a monthly journal club, which takes place on the second Thursday of every month after academic conference; for more information on topics and calendar, please visit the Journal Club page. 

Academic Schedule 2024-2025

Asynchronous Learning

Online, free medical education resources will be utilized to augment didactics in order meet the minimum number of hours for ACGME accreditation. The NMCSD EM Residency has decided to use Academic Life in Emergency Medicine University (ALiEMU) as the platform to complete this requirement. For every block that a trainee misses conference due to an inpatient or away rotation, he or she is required to complete on ALiEMU online module, ideally in the same subject as the missed month. PGY-1 and PGY-2 trainees will complete a module from the AIR Series and PGY-3's and PGY-4's will use the AIR-Pro Series. Completion of the modules and score on the final quiz will be tracked by CDR Auten as part of the resident review process.

To complete the modules, log-in through ALiEMU. GO TO ALiEMU subpage for topic lists and go-by.

Clinical Simulation

This year, SIM became embedded into conference days (as well as some exclusive SIM days).  The SIM portion of conference occurs in the basement of the hospital behind the McDonald's/NEX in the Bioskills Simulation Center. Clinical SIM will include residents, interns, and students. Participants are split into teams and work through cases as if they were taking place in an Emergency Department. Some of these scenarios can be quite elaborate and can involve actors and moulaged manikins to simulate injury patterns or medical problems. There is typically one resident leading the case and other roles are assigned (RN, RT, scribe, monitor, meds, etc.). These scenarios are a fair representation of cases which may be encountered in the ED. Clinical simulation is built to help teach challenging cases or rare and unusual cases. While you may not pass the simulation, it will teach a valuable lesson that you wont soon forget, possibly saving the life of a patient on the floor. Leave your ego at the SIM lab door, what happens in SIM lab stays in Sim lab, like Vegas!

    AM SIM

Several Thursdays a month, simulation scenarios will occur in the ED at 0600 with department nurses and corpsmen under the supervision of one of the ED staff. The simulations last approximately one hour before a debriefing session. Cases are varied in complexity and scope, and focus on interdisciplinary communication and team dynamics in addition to medical knowledge. Scenarios involve a senior resident (either PGY-3 or PGY-4) and junior resident (PGY-1 or PGY-2); it is expected that every trainee participate in at least one AM SIM per year. Attendance is mandatory if scheduled for that day.

    Procedure Workshop

In addition to dedicated simulation days, some conference days are accompanied by afternoon simulation sessions supervised by EM faculty. These last 1-2 hours are intended to allow trainees to practice more procedures in a supervised setting. There are usually 3-4 trainees in attendance.  The procedures performed can vary week to week depending on the staff present or the needs of the trainees present. Procedures may include central lines, intubation, intravenous cardiac pacing, etc. Residents are required to attend one afternoon SIM per year and PGY-2 residents are encouraged to schedule their day prior to the first outside ED rotation when possible, or before starting at Arrowhead Regional Hospital on trauma.

For more information on Clinical Simulation, please contact LCDR Janelle Sourbeer.

Evaluations

Academic progress through residency is evaluated by the In-Service Training Exam and Promotion Boards annually and Semi-Annual Reviews with CDR Grimaldo twice a year. If any deficiencies are identified, trainees may be placed on a remediation schedule with increased supervision by their assigned faculty advisor.

Please contact the ACRs with any further questions.