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Program Differentiators

Emergency Room Training

Advantages of our program

  • The University of Iowa Emergency Department is number one among academic centers for the shortest waiting times for patients and has strong customer service scores. We will teach you to provide rapid, efficient care to patients while maintaining kind and compassionate service.
  • Abundant clinical experience comes from our burgeoning patient census, and more than a fifth of our patients are pediatric.
  • University of Iowa is one of the top research institutions in the nation providing unparalleled resources. Our department has many ongoing clinical, basic science, and translational research projects.
  • Outstanding, nationally-recognized clinical faculty who have trained all over the country. Teachers who have recognized that University of Iowa is a very special place and have come here to help create a world-class teaching institution.
  • We have two dual-boarded emergency medicine and critical care faculty who divide their time evenly between the emergency department and the MICU and SNICU respectively. This allows us to offer our residents unparalleled critical care education, both in the department and during their ICU rotations.
  • We have a diverse faculty with diverse interests including critical care, ultrasound, simulation, sports medicine, international medicine, emergency medicine services, and others.
  • Our Emergency Department supports a full time clinical pharmacist who assists with patient care and is highly involved in our research programs. 
  • We have 24-hours a day of full social work support dedicated to the Emergency Department.
  • The use of ultrasound in the practice of Emergency Medicine is expanding exponentially. The University of Iowa Emergency Department recently purchased new, state of the art ultrasound equipment to assist our residents in learning this fundamental skill. The residency program also supports a full time director of the ultrasound curriculum. 

Facilities

  • State-of-the-art, 60,000 square foot Emergency Department that contains 45 beds.
  • Only Level 1 trauma center and burn center in Iowa.
  • University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics is a 711-bed hospital.  

Clinical experiences

  • The Emergency Medicine residents get a longitudinal EMS experience starting with RAGBRAI medical coverage as interns, followed by event medicine coverage at Iowa Hawkeyes football games, basketball games, and wrestling matches culminating in a month-long EMS month during the third year.
  • Our residents learn cutting-edge critical care through dedicated rotations in the Surgical and Neurosciences ICU, the Medical ICU, the Pediatric ICU, the Neonatal ICU, and the Burn Unit at a tertiary academic medical center. 
  • The opportunity to participate in an ACSME accredited Sports Medicine EMS fellowship at a Big 10 university.
  • Fellowships in EMS, Critical Care, Sports Medicine, Academics, Globa Health, Injury Prevention, Research, and Palliative Care.
  • Optional Wilderness Medicine course taught mainly in the mountains of Colorado by Iowa faculty.
  • Moonlighting available in surrounding community to eligible PGY-3 residents.
  • Medical simulation is used extensively within the residency training program. The residency has a full time simulation director who coordinates this area of the residency curriculum. Residents receive training using high-fidelity simulators to augment their clinical experience. 
  • The residency program has a close relationship with our partner community hospital in Cedar Rapids, with residents spending several months learning there. This allows residents to experience patient care not only in a large academic center, but also at a large community hospital.

Resident Representatives

  • EMRA Representative: David Ruehlmann, MD
    • EMRA Alternate: Nancy Mikati, MD
  • AAEM Representative: Kasia Marciniec, DO
  • ACEP Representative: Omar Shaban, MD
  • ACGME Nominee: Josh Bauer, MD
  • House Staff Council: Gigi Landal, MD
  • Program Evaluation Committee Members: Josh Bauer, MD/Nick Lind, MD/Nancy Mikati, MD/Omar Shaban, MD
  • Interdisciplinary Committee: Nick Lind, MD/Gigi Landal, MD

Iowa City

  • Iowa City is a highly intellectual community with premier arts events that are accessible to residents in terms of cost and location. 
  • We have an outstanding school system for children in grades K-12. 
  • A great training program and a high quality of life at an affordable price.