Residency Program Highlights

There are so many highlights it's hard to list them all!  This doesn't include the resident retreats, journal clubs, and social functions we have throughout the year.  As a smaller program, we all know and work for each other.  This is a great place to prepare for the rest of your life. 

Location

• Froedtert Hospital, our main adult hospital, is the only Level 1 trauma center in southeastern Wisconsin.  This means all significant blunt and penetrating traumas come to our ED.
• We serve a diverse urban and suburban patient population.
• Froedtert is located in a safe, beautiful suburb of Milwaukee - a vibrant urban area with a total population of 1.5 million.  We are less than fifteen minutes from downtown Milwaukee, which offers a growing number of restaurants and nightlife. 
• Accessibility to camping, fishing, hiking, sports, and over 20 music and ethnic festivals. 

Trauma

• We have an extremely close relationship with the trauma service.  Monthly trauma conferences give us a strong understanding of managing the critically ill patient.  We are an integral part of the trauma team throughout our residency.
• First-year residents do a one-month rotation with numerous procedures and a chance to participate in all ED trauma resuscitations.
• Second-year residents do all trauma airways and a six-week rotation in the SICU.  This includes critical care and a wide variety of invasive procedures, in addition to resuscitation of the sickest patients in the hospital.
• Third-year residents are trauma captain or the primary assessing doctor during all traumas in the ED.
• We see pediatric trauma from all of southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

Pediatrics

• We can proudly say we are training at one of the top-ranked Pediatric Emergency Department in the United States - Children's Hospital of Wisconsin - right next door to Froedtert.
• 45,000+ children per year seen at Children's Hospital allows for significant emergency pediatrics training.
• Board-certified Pediatric Emergency Medicine staff provides training for pediatric procedures and critical emergency care.  They actively involve residents in the care of the sickest children.
• First-year residents do one intensive inpatient month, and one entire month in the Pediatric Emergency Department.
• Second- and third-year residents work several shifts every month in the Pediatric ED, providing the opportunity to see the seasonal variety of childhood illness.
• Second-year residents also spend two weeks in a dedicated pediatric anesthesia rotation to become comfortable intubating our smallest patients.
• If additional pediatric experience is desired, residents are welcome to take extra pediatric shifts or use elective time in the third year to accomplish this.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Flight For Life

• During the orientation month, residents ride along with Milwaukee County EMS units to get a firsthand experience of what it is like to be an Emergency Medical Technician.
• Second-year residents field all Milwaukee County paramedic base calls for medical control.  These are often full ACLS code situations.  This experience improves the level of comfort obtained in running resuscitations, which is vital to growth as an emergency physician.
• Additional experience in mass gathering EMS is gained with participation in disaster exercises.
• Department faculty serve as medical control for Milwaukee County EMS, Milwaukee Fire Department, City of Kenosha EMS, SWAT, and Flight For Life (FFL).  These medical directors are responsible for EMS policy and protocols, providing a wealth of prehospital experience for resident education.
• Third-year residents have a dedicated EMS rotation to teach administrative and medical oversight aspects of EMS. 
• The Medical College offers a one- or two-year EMS fellowship, highlighting our commitment to cutting-edge out-of-hospital care.
• A Flight Critical Care experience is offered as an option for residents interested in training as a flight physician with the Flight For Life air-medical service.
  • Our program has an extensive history with FFL, the area's helicopter EMS provider, with three helicopters and an outstanding safety record.
  • Second- and third-year residents may work as a crew member with a flight nurse and paramedic, doing all critical care and trauma prehospital transports.
  • Flight physicians gain prehospital critical care experience, field intubations, and other procedures in a unique environment dealing with the sickest patients. 
  • Faculty physicians serve as medical direction for FFL. 

Ultrasound

• Starting in orientation, you will be taught principles and skills in emergency ultrasound use.
• Ultrasound is available 24-hours a day in our ED.  This is routinely used to evaluate sick medical and trauma patients with FAST exams, AAA exams, and extended FAST exams for hypotensive patients.
• All faculty are training in ultrasound, and some faculty have additional specialty ultrasound training.
• Third-year residents have a dedicated ultrasound rotation to help hone ultrasound skills.

Community Emergency Medicine

• Second-year residents receive a strong community experience.  We have a close relationship with a local group that supervises residents at a busy, urban community ED as well as a small, single-coverage ED just south of Milwaukee.
• This local group leads two weekly conference sessions each year, with diverse topics that provide variety from more typical emergency medicine topics.

Academics and Research

• Graduates from each class routinely obtain placement in academic centers.
• Resident research projects are flexible enough to accommodate high-powered submissions to leading journals or allow for innovative ideas aimed at any number of cutting-edge areas.

Education

• Four-hour weekly conference is rigorously protected, even on away rotations. 
• The Medical College boasts leading experts in toxicology, cardiology, and multiple other disciplines who visit on a regular basis.
• Frequent use of video-assisted mannequin and live-actor simulation.
• Specific skill labs in airway technique, splinting, central line placement, trauma procedures, and dental procedures.
• Resident presentations build speaking skills throughout all three years. 

 Orientation Month

• An exciting addition to our program that we offer for all new residents. 
• Eases transition and helps you acclimate to the hospital system. 
• Training in ultrasound use, advanced airway management, splinting, and central line placement - so you feel comfortable performing these procedures on your first day.
• Shifts in both the Adult and Pediatric Emergency Departments