About The Program
Teaching
At ACMC we are known for, and pride ourselves on bedside teaching. Our ED’s acuity and wide spectrum of illness make this program an outstanding place for clinical teaching. When you train here an attending physician will supervise every one of your cases. You will have opportunities to have ED attendings evaluate your clinical skills based on formal direct observation.
Our didactic lecture series is a lively and enjoyable exercise in learning. It is given on each Tuesday morning from 7:30 am until 12:30 pm. The majorityof the conferences are held at our state of the art new auditorium.
We have weekly scheduled teaching activities to prepare you to pass both your written and oral boards. This includes a scheduled reading program with regular written-board reviews every two weeks.
Our residents all have a subscription to EMtests, an online product that allows you to take practice tests and topic-specific board style questions at your convenience.
We have practical labs that take learning beyond the lecture and handout. Examples include Hazardous Materials Exhibition Day, Airway Lab, Dental Lab, Ophthalmology Lab, Fire and Enclosed Space Rescue Course, and practical Ultrasound Labs.
Most recently, our new SimLab, inaugurated August 2008, has helped our residents test their clinical and team leadership skills.
Mentoring
At ACMC we have mentor groups. Each group is comprised of at least 2 attendings and a resident from each year of the program. Residents use these groups for camaraderie, advice, career counseling and help with resident projects.
Clinical Excellence
At ACMC ED we pride ourselves on clinical excellence. We train our residents to mange a diverse, high volume, high acuity patient population.
We have hired ED staff pharmacologists to provide teaching, best practice parameters and real-time clinical input on medication issues.
We have a performance improvement (PI) committee headed by Dr. Rishi Sikka that is continually working to lessen error and improve clinical accuracy and efficiency. You will participate in a PI project and be involved in the department’s many initiatives. These activities address the RRC requirements and provide insight for your future practice.
During clinical shifts in the ED our residents have multiple informatics systems at their finger tips. We have easy access to a patient’s previous medical records and imaging studies. All imaging is displayed on a computerized PACS system for quick, high definition viewing. Residents have access to MDConsult, UpToDate and MicroMedix. when searching for answers to clinical questions. A computerized system tracks every patient’s course through our ED. This system (IBEX) is also our computerized physician documentation platform. It is an intuitive program that is simple to learn and provides templates for quick charting.
Toxicology
Drs. Andrea Carlson and Ted Toerne are board certified toxicologists on staff in our ED. They take call 24 hours a day.
Toxicology lectures are built in to our curriculum. Our residents receive 12 toxicology lectures by board certified toxicologist throughout the year.
The majority of our residents complete the popular Toxicology elective at the Toxikon Consortium which is associated with the Illinois Poison Control Center.
Research
We feel research is an important component of our residency.
ACMC ED’s Research Director is Dr. Erik Kulstad.
Here is a brief list of projects recently presented/published by our faculty and residents:
We also have a number of studies under development. Our attendings are enthusiastic about research and love to be involved in projects. With their varied backgrounds and areas of expertise, there is always “an expert in the field” available to help. As part of your information packet, we are including a list of recent publications and presentations.
Ultrasound
We have an academic ultrasound fellowship program directed by Dr. Michael Lambert.
We have a schedule of half-day-long ultrasound courses built into the curriculum, and three ultrasound machines in the ED for clinical use.
There are six ED attendings who are RDMS certified in ultrasound. Many other attendings are very experienced in ultrasound and use it in their daily practice to make clinical decisions.
Pediatrics
We have one ED attendings who is board certified in both EM and pediatrics.
Our residents rotate through our pediatric ED throughout their three years of training. Our pediatric center is open 20 hours a day and sees approximately 21,000 patients annually.
Our pediatric patients may have anything from the common cold to complex congenital heart disease, status epilepticus, or inborn errors of metabolism .
Our pediatric teaching is done by emergency physicians and a pediatric emergency physician; this offers a wide breadth of knowledge and expertise. Teaching is at the bedside and with regularly scheduled didactic sessions.
Journal Clubs
Journal clubs are held every other month at an attending’s house or a restaurant. We analyze 3 articles covering a single topic each session. The discussions are always spirited. It is a favorite among the faculty and residents.
Recent topics covered: Use of beta-blockers in acute MI setting, use of steroids in bacterial meningitis, environmental emergencies, vascular hemostasis in trauma victims.
Resident Perks
We have a new Resident’s Room with 3 computer work stations, EM textbooks and a scanner.
Residents receive meal cards to cover their nutritional needs while on call.
We offer many opportunities for moonlighting within our ED under the supervision of an ED attending.
4 weeks of vacation per year scheduled as much as possible at your discretion.
Educational stipend.
Book Stipend.
EMS
ACMC is a Resource Hospital and Medical Control for 16 municipal and private ambulance companies under the direction of Drs. Sean Motzny and Joe Maslar. The EMS Medical Director is current chair of EMS Region VII, an area that includes urban, suburban, and rural prehospital care.
Our ED has dedicated Emergency Communications Registered Nurse's (ECRN's) to provide on-line medical control for over 12000 ALS ambulance calls per year.
The EMS system has been progressive in starting the first EMT-P Ventilator transport program in the State and trains and graduates the most EMT/EMT-P students in the State of Illinois.
ACMC EMS is also an American Heart Association Community Training Center (CTC), training the most BLS/ACLS/PALS providers in a hospital based program in the State.
Diversity and Inclusiveness
We strive to be a department that fosters the careers of a diverse group of EM physicians.
ACMC’s ED supports 33 residents. Of these, 15 are women, 6 are minorities.
Our ED attending staff numbers 34. Of these 16 are women and 6 are minorities.
19 members of our attending staff were trained in residency programs other than ACMC. Consequently, our residents are exposed to many different approaches to clinical problem solving.
Post Residency Employment
Our graduates obtain positions in both community and academic settings. In addition, a numbner of our recent graduates have pursued fellowships in International Emergency Medicine, Ultrasound, and Pediatric EM.
ACMC sponsors a year long fellowship in Emergency Ultrasound. Usually one resident from each graduating class chooses to participate in this program.
We encourage our graduating residents to apply for any openings on our staff when they are available.
We have graduates in all areas of the United States. We can network with them to help you find a job in a desired location.
Future
ED nursing positions are 100% staffed with good retention. Our nursing staff is diverse with many very experienced nurses as well as more recent graduates.
Our ED volumes since 2003 have averaged over 80,000 patient visits per year.
We are dedicated to providing the best possible care to all our patients. We believe that requires outstanding resident physicians working, learning and growing here with us. We are excited about the future of emergency medicine at ACMC!