Message from the Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency
As you embark on the recruitment journey of the next few months, you will have many questions along the way. Some of these will be useful to you as you formulate your match list; “What kind of EM program am I looking for?”. Some of them will not be so useful; “How many inpatient floor months will I do at this program?”.
Spreadsheets will likely be created, layered with rows and columns of data that you collect on your travels – number of ICU months, number of shifts, lengths of shifts, etc. Now this is all important information, but I think when the time comes to finalize your list there are only a few key questions to consider:
- Do I like the people?
- Will this program help me obtain the job/career I want after graduation?
- Do I believe in the vision as stated by the Program Director & Department Chair?
I believe the first question is answered by your gut feeling when you meet the residents and faculty during the pre-interview (now virtual) meet & greet, and of course the interview day itself. The changes caused by the pandemic will of course make this harder, but if you stay in touch with yourself during the times, I am confident this can still be answered during virtual discussions.
The second question will be answered by the PD & the Chair, and possibly answered by data showcased to you during the interview day itself.
The third question, in my opinion, is the most important. I think every applicant needs to take a long look at themselves and think about what they want to achieve with their career; How far do they want to go? How much do they want to be pushed to get there? Who do they want to be surrounded by? What type of patients do they want to care for? There are so many questions that you need to consider answering before you accept an interview at a residency program. Knowing what our program is about, what defines it, what our vision is – all of these together will help you answer whether we may be the right residency for you.
Loyola University Medical Center is a quaternary care hospital. It is a large academic teaching hospital, complete with a great many residency & fellowship programs, and an academic affiliation with the Stritch School of Medicine. Teaching, service, learning, support and patient care is at the heart of this institution.
Key to our vision is the strength of our residents. Put simply, we want to train EM Physicians to be leaders in the field of Emergency Medicine – be it in the care they provide, the scholarly activity they pursue, the service they give, or the teaching they deliver. Leaders need to be highly trained, need to command the respect of those around them, and need to be able to teach those around them. Helping you develop these characteristics is what we will strive to do.
We have built an outstanding curriculum, with rotations built around existing relationships in our ICUs and specialty services – rotations that have been honed and crafted over many years to create the very best educational models. On top of this we are building on our relationships with many of our colleagues – trauma, anesthesia and many others to offer rotations that will give you every possible opportunity to develop the skills of patient care.
Our didactics build on the experience that our leadership brings from so many different departments and residencies. It has been built from the ground-up with one goal: to utilize the latest educational methodology to enable you to immerse yourself in Emergency Medicine education for 3 years. Simulation (which we do twice per month in Stritch’s phenomenal Simulation Center), novel & interactive didactics, Team-Based & Small-Group learning – the days of multiple hours of powerpoint-driven 1-hour lectures are far behind us.
We are also fortunate to have a faculty group rich in academic interests and scholarly pursuits. A review of their bios will show you how involved they are in the education of our LUMC residents & Stritch medical students, as well as our faculty colleagues, and how many awards they have won for their efforts. Despite not having an EM Residency until 2019, EM has been one of the most popular specialty choice for our Stritch students for several years now. Our faculty are already developed as teachers and mentors. They are ready to deliver the required education, both on and off shift, that you need to succeed. We are ready to hone your skills as teachers – something that is central to the vision of this residency. Teaching each other, teaching our faculty, our nurses, and our medical students is a required part of this residency. We will help you develop the bedside and podium skills to be truly excellent educators.
An important question for any Program Director is: “What type of resident are you looking to recruit?”, “What type are you hoping to graduate?”. The answers to these are inherently connected. The type of resident that will flourish in this program is one with strong leadership traits, a pioneering spirit, and a strong work ethic. These are the characteristics we are looking for in our future residents.
You will be the physician that takes the name of our department and showcases its capabilities to the many services and units in our hospital. You will take our name and lead patient care efforts both in and out of the hospital. Our hope is that you take it after residency and continue to push the field of Emergency Medicine forward. This is our vision. Consider your own. If you want to be a part of the history of a program, I hope our paths cross soon.
– David C. Snow, MD, MSc, FACEP, FAAEM, Program Director
