Curriculum of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program

PGY-I  Emergency Medicine intern rotations will cover the spectrum of medicine, with a focus on Emergency Medicine, critical care, and trauma. Dedicated time is spent at the Children’s Hospital, VA Hospital, El Centro Regional Medical Center, as well as obstetrics, anesthesia and orthopedics. Highlights include a focus on ICU rather than floor off-service rotations (e.g. Medical ICU, cardiovascular ICU), extensive training and experience in DEM bedside ultrasound, burn care experiences, and two 2-week blocks of elective time.

PGY-II  Emergency Medicine resident rotations will include experiences in Pulmonary critical care, ultrasound, medical toxicology, and the Emergency Departments at UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest, VA, and Children's Hospital. EMS exposure with an opt in to explore aeromedical flight training orientation is also scheduled during the first part of this year. Those who wish to participate as a flight crewmember with Mercy Air can apply to be a flier their PG3 & 4 years. Of note, Mercy Air aeromedical is an optional, but highly popular experience. Residents also spend two 2-week blocks of elective time exploring and deepening their academics interests.

PGY-III  Focused rotations with graded responsibilities in the Emergency Department. Senior residents are responsible for running all codes in the emergency department, overseeing critical patients with junior learners, taking sign-out, guiding MICN calls, triaging trauma special considerations, and overall flow of the emergency department. Residents also expand their Emergency Medicine experiences with a 3 week rotation at Tri-City and another 3 week rotation at a choice of three community sites. They continue to rotate through El Centro Regional Medical Center and the Children’s Hospital. In addition, residents serve as senior residents on off-service rotations in Pediatric critical care, Hyperbaric and Undersea Medicine and Trauma ICU. Residents also spend two 2-week blocks of elective time exploring and deepening their academic interests.

PGY-IV  Further refinement of clinical skills along with a deeper development of teaching and supervisory skills is emphasized this year. Critical care time is dedicated to Neonatal ICU and Trauma ICU. Residents continue their community experience with another opportunity to rotate at the community Emergency Department at Tri-City Medical Center. Residents will also continue to further clinical experience at rural El Centro and have some teaching shifts built in to the ED blocks to focus on our highly subscribed rotation by medical students. There is dedicated time to further develop pediatric airway management skills with pediatric anesthesiologists at the Children’s hospital in addition to the usual pediatric emergency medicine shifts. One month of elective time is still included in the fourth year for further personalized career development. Three PGY-IV residents are selected as chief residents.

Ultrasound is taught in a longitudinal manner with 2 dedicated weeks in each of the first and second years, with daily instruction on shifts and via a core lecture series taught by our Ultrasound division faculty. 

Pediatric shifts at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego are spread throughout all 4 years. For each academic year, they are divided into 1 to 2 week blocks throughout the year for a longitudinal experience.

Electives blocks are intentionally scheduled throughout all 4 years in order to offer the possibility of longitudinal experiences in an area of interest. They are not limited to UCSD sites and may be international. Your regular UCSD salary is paid while on elective.