We are so excited to have  you with us for your medical school emergency medicine rotation!

Medical students are a valuable part of the EM team, whether or not you are going into emergency medicine in the future. The part most EM physicians love about the specialty is that it contains a little bit of almost every specialty, so everyone has something to gain from an EM rotation. All doctors will respond to some emergency event in the future as well, so understanding the fundamentals of resuscitation and priorities in acute situations is paramount to all practicing clinicians. 

Medical students will be scheduled for 11 shifts during the course of the block with a mixture of sims, didactics, and hands-on learning. Each medical student will be expected to attend conference from 8am-12pm every Tuesday during the course of the block, which consists of 2 hours of small group learning and 2 hours of lectures. There will be material to review prior to the lectures each week, which is highly encouraged so that medical students can be actively involved in discussion during conference. 

Show up at least 10 minutes prior to the official start time of your shift to ensure you have enough time to introduce yourself to the resident and jump in seeing patients at the start of your shift. Go through expectations and have a learning goal at the beginning of each shift, particularly if it will relate to your specialty in the future (e.g., improving on EKG interpretations, reading chest X-rays,  discussing  RSI meds and indications, etc.). This will give the resident more objective measures for feedback and teaching opportunities. 

Emergency medicine is about efficiency. While collecting your history and performing your physical exam, aim for no more than 15 minutes in the room in total. When you are done, collect your thoughts, and attempt to consolidate your presentation into 1-2 minutes. Hit the high points; make your presentation concise and limit the number of "filler words" you use. Include pertinent positives and negatives based on what is on your differential diagnosis. Always include vitals, even if that means stating "vitals are unremarkable." Limit your assessment and plan to what you think is most likely and what may be most likely to be life-threatening. Always include labs, imaging, and medications as well as if you think the patient will need to stay in the hospital or be discharged home. 

Your presentation is your time to shine. Doing well with your presentations will be a key to success during your rotation. For more information on emergency department presentations, watch this 10 minute video from the Emergency Medicine Residency Association: https://www.emra.org/students/advising-resources/patient-presentations/

Emergency Medicine rotations are a great time to get procedures. Make your resident aware that you are willing and eager to perform them and let them know of any knowledge deficits in performing the procedure to make sure you have proper oversight. 

You will be expected to stay for the duration of your shift. You are only required ~90 hours of clinical duty during your month-long block: use it to your advantage. Once your resident is done picking up patients, be sure to ask for formal feedback before you leave for the day. You will be required to have a resident or attending sign an evaluation form at the end of each shift.

Most importantly, have fun! We are happy to have you and want everyone to learn and enjoy themselves during this rotation. 

Any questions, concerns, and comments can be forwarded to the medical student chief, Zach Campbell Zachary.Campbell@wright.edu