Didactics

  EM Categorical Didactics

Emergency medicine is uniquely challenging because of the breadth of material its practitioners are expected to master. While the most valuable learning experiences in medicine occur at the patient's bedside and in the clinical arena, these experiences need to be supplemented with regular readings and a formal didactic curriculum to ensure that residents develop without knowledge gaps.

To ensure coverage of the core topics of emergency medicine, there is a weekly conference on Wednesday mornings comprised of lectures and specialized case conferences covering a variety of topics. Residents and faculty share responsibility for the preparation of these conferences. This provides residents an opportunity to research topics deeply and become comfortable organizing and presenting lectures to large groups. The curriculum has been organized so that the core-content of emergency medicine is covered biannually. Additionally, senior residents attend specialized lectures geared toward advanced practitioners. Such conferences both cover core-content topics in greater detail, as well as topics more germane to senior residents (eg. Medico-legal topics, contracts, billing, and EM leadership).

The new evidenced-based clinical topics conference is an opportunity for senior residents to draw on their knowledge of evidence-based medicine to settle controversies in management.

Residents organize and present joint conferences with other services in the hospital community. Each month there is a trauma conference presided over by an emergency medicine and trauma surgery attending, as well as a medical ICU conference in which interesting critical care cases are presented and the relevant literature is reviewed and discussed with faculty from both emergency medicine and critical care medicine.

We also have an active grand rounds program where we invite internationally- and nationally-renown speakers to address our residents and faculty.

EM Topic Review is our core-content lecture series that covers the entire EM Model of Cinical Practice over the course of two years. This review is presented in a number of formats to engage various learning styles: oral board type questions, multiple choice questions, small group discussions, and open- ended questions. There is a monthly web-based quiz on the core content of emergency medicine designed and hosted by the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors. This quiz is done in conjunction with the EM Topic Review.

Pediatric and Adult Journal Clubs present a topic of interest every month during Wednesday conference. The latest literature is discussed and scrutinized using the tools of evidence-based medicine, and conclusions are drawn about the need for further research or a change in clinical practice.

The departmental CPC is an eagerly-anticipated annual event in which the most mystifying cases of the year are presented as unknowns and then solved using brute intelligence. The best presenter or discussant is then selected to represent the residency at the national CPC competition.

The residents in our program are active participants in National and Regional Conferences in Emergency Medicine. In addition to the annual SAEM conference to which most fourth-year residents travel, any conference at which a resident presents his/her research will be sponsored by the department.

The residency organizes hands-on workshops in suturing, casting, ultrasound and slit-lamp use. The residents themselves frequently provide similar workshops for medical students rotating in the emergency department. The Residency Directors organize a yearly oral board review, which serves as preparation for the oral board exam for ABEM board certification.

Morning report is held weekdays immediately following morning rounds in the Kings County Hospital Center Adult Emergency Department. A resident or faculty member briefly presents a notable case from the past week and guides discussion of differential diagnosis and management.

  EM / IM Combined Didactics

The Combined Emergency and Internal Medicine program provides a unique opportunity to train in two specialties. However, the breadth of information across the two disciplines can sometimes be overwhelming. At Kings County Hospital / Downstate Medicial Center, there are a wealth of didactic opportunities to enlighten emerging doctors.

The Internal Medicine residency features a systems-based curriculum. Each month a specific system is emphasized and the resident is expected to independently study. Bi-weekly noon conferences further reinforce this learning. Conferences cover essential core topics and by the end of the month housestaff are well prepared to sit for a review exam.

For the intern, weekly Intern-Morning reports allow integration of academics with patient care. Anyone from a chief resident to department chair will lead and facilitate discussions on a particular topic or a case presentation. This is a valuable time where junior house-staff have the opportunity to develop differential diagnoses and approaches to complicated cases.

For the resident on the inpatient service, there are tri-weekly Resident-Morning reports. Chief residents, Attendings and the Chief of service are all present for these gatherings. A variety of topics are covered from hospital policies and practices, integration of evidence-based medicine, and the discussion of complex patient presentations. Round table meetings often move to the patient’s bedside to incorporate Hippocratic-style teaching into the academic discussions.

Morbidity and Mortality Conference is once per month and helps to highlight safety issues while reviewing a case in which different approaches to management are discussed. These conferences are well attended by faculty and chairs from the various medicine subspecialties. These conferences are prepared and presented by medicinal housestaff.

Grand Rounds combines didactics with state of the art research and technology. Once weekly, an invited speaker will speak about a particular topic in medicine and this is usually an update on where we are in the state of medicine and the advances on the horizon. Grand Rounds are held in the Alumni Auditorium to facilitate the enormous audience which this presentation draws.

To ensure coverage of the core topics of emergency medicine, there is a weekly conference each Wednesday morning that is comprised of lectures and specialized case conferences on a variety of topics. Residents and faculty share responsibility for the preparation of these conferences.  This provides residents an opportunity to research topics deeply and become comfortable organizing and presenting lectures to large groups. The curriculum has been organized so the core-content of emergency medicine is completely covered every two years. Additionally, senior residents attend other specialized lectures that are geared to advanced practitioners to cover these topics in greater detail, and topics more germane to senior residents (eg. Medico-legal topics, contracts, billing, and EM leadership).

The evidenced-based clinical topics conference is a new addition to the conference schedule.  If offers an opportunity for senior residents to draw on their knowledge of evidence-based medicine to settle controversies in management.  The resident must back their answer with papers found in the recent medical literature.

Residents organize and present joint conferences with other services in the hospital community. Each month there is a trauma conference presided over by an emergency medicine and trauma surgery attending, as well as a MICU conference in which the month’s interesting critical care cases are presented and the relevant literature is reviewed.

We also have an active grand rounds program where we invite internationally- and nationally-renown speakers to talk to our residents and faculty about new research and cutting edge topics in EM.

EM Topic Review is our core-content lecture series that covers the entire EM Model of Cinical Practice over the course of two years. This review is presented in a number of formats to engage different types of learners: oral board type questions, multiple choice questions, medical jeopardy games, small group discussions, and open- ended questions. There is a monthly web-based quiz on the core content of emergency medicine designed and hosted by the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors.  This quiz is done in conjunction with the EM Topic Review to create a modular curriculum.

Pediatric and Adult Journal Clubs present a topic of interest every month during conference. The latest literature is discussed and scrutinized using the tools of evidence-based medicine, and conclusions are drawn about the need for a change in practice or if further research is required

The departmental CPC is a much-anticipated yearly event in which the most mystifying cases of the year are presented as unknowns and then solved using brute intelligence. The best presenter or discussant is then selected to represent the residency at the national CPC competition yearly in May at the SAEM meeting.

The residents in our program are active participants in National and Regional Conferences in Emergency Medicine. In addition to the annual SAEM conference to which most fourth-year residents travel, any conference at which a resident is to present original research will be sponsored by the department.

The residency organizes hands-on workshops in suturing, casting, ultrasound and slit-lamp use.  The residents themselves frequently provide similar workshops for medical students rotating in the emergency department. The Residency Directors organize a yearly oral board review, which serves as preparation for the oral board exam for ABEM board certification.

Morning report is held most weekdays during morning rounds in the Kings County Hospital Center Adult Emergency Department. A resident or faculty member presents a notable case from the past week and guides discussion of differential diagnosis and management.