Didactic Curriculum

Formal didactics are offered through multiple conferences,seminars, small group discussions and lab sessions on a regular basis. Every Wednesday, 4.5 hours of didactics are scheduled for which residents have protected time. Below are brief descriptions of the various components of the didactic curriculum.

Orientation - EM1's have a two day orientation prior to the start of their clinical obligations. It is designed to welcome residents into the program and help them become familiar with the Denver Health system. Topics for this orientation include:introductions, administrative tasks, and foundational clinical lectures. Additionally, residents, faculty and their significant others all attend a welcome picnic at the Program Director's house.

Mortality and Morbidity Conference - A 1.5 hour M&Mconference is held every week alternating between DHMC and UCHSC. The conference is an interactive discussion of interesting cases, deaths,and errors of management. In addition, periodic Mortality and Morbidity Conferences are presented with cases from Saint Joseph Hospital , The Children's Hospital, and the Denver Paramedic Division. Conferences at the University are presented by EM3 residents with mentoring from Chief EM Residents. Conferences at DHMC are presentedby the Chief Residents. 

Attending Lectures in Emergency Medicine - A one hour formal "grand rounds" style lecture presented by EM attendings. They are designed to highlight individual attending's areas of specialty interest within emergency medicine.

Attending Core Lecture Series (ACLS) - A one hour lectureseries covering core content topics in emergency medicine. The topics are set up to mirror those covered on the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) certification examination. A series of 36 core lectures spans 24 months such that there are 18 lectures per year. Every resident will cover this content twice during residency.

Resident Lecture in Emergency Medicine - EM3 and EM4 residents are required to present a one hour lecture per year. EM3 topics tend to be more based on core curriculum content, while EM4's are given the liberty to truly develop a specialty lecture. This provides experiencein the preparation and presentation of a formal lecture.

EM2 Lectures- Each EM2 resident presents a 30 minute lecture on brief topics of interest and utility to residents.

Radiology Curriculum - A series of twelve lectures spans 24 months such that there are 6 lectures per year. It is designed to cover the essentials of emergency radiology. Every resident will cover this content twice during his residency.

ECG Curriuculum - This is a series of twelve lectures that spans 24 months such that there are 6 lectures per year. It is designed to cover the essentials of ECG interpretation for an emergency medicine physician. Every resident will cover this content twice during their residency.

Ultrasound Curriculum - The ultrasound curriculum is composed of both lectures and laboratory sessions. A series of six lectures spans 24 months such that there are three lectures per year, covering ultrasound physics and all major indications. Residents go through three lab sessions during the course of their training to furtherdevelop their skills. This curriculum is designed to supplement the vast amounts of ultrasound experience residents obtain in the emergency department. Additionally, residents complete two weeks of didactics and scanning shifts in their EM2 year and can elective 2-4 additional weeks in their EM4 year to master their skills. This curriculum provides residents with a Letter of Ultrasound Certification accepted at almost all hospitals for credentialing purposes.

Ethics and Professionalism Curriculum - A series of eight lectures that spans 24 months such that there are four lectures per year. It is designed to cover the difficult and often controversial ethical issues faced by emergency medicine physicians today. Every resident will cover this content twice during their residency.

Modular Reading Curriculum - In order to cover the readingcurriculum in an adult-learning, problem-focused model, EM2 and EM3 residents are provided with a weekly question bank. The questions areprovided at the start of the academic year and comprise five multiple-choice items that guide the readings in specific topics. Residents use their guided readings to answer and explain the questions, which are then reviewed by a member of the faculty. The modular curriculum is based on the Clinical Model of Emergency Medicine and is completed in 24 months. 

Oral Board Review and Simulation Curriculum - Multiple times over the year at conference the residents group by class to go through oral board cases with attending physicians as well as use two medical simulation labs (one at each hospital) to test their skills on difficult and exciting cases.  Residents can also get involved in the simulations during elective time to create their own cases for the case databank.

Evidence-Based Emergency Medicine - The former "journal club" curriculum underwent significant restructuring during 2008-09 to incorporate principles of adult learning and to make transparent the process and methods of scientific inquiry through the investigation of a clinical question.  Presented monthly at conference, one attending and two residents have undertaken a search to find the best articles and evidence to address a selected question.  The attending and residents rigorously evaluate the literature and provide a critical review of the investigative methods used and research project design, highlighting along the way "pearls" of EBM and research methods.

Retreats/Advances- The residency holds annual class-specific retreats each year. During retreats, each class is freed from their clinical obligations to attend a three day series of lectures, workshops, team building exercises, and fun. Lectures focus on practical information to ease the transition into each year of the program. Lectures include a wound management laboratory session, an advanced airway management laboratory, ultrasound laboratory sessions, and procedure review sessions (ED Thoracotomy, Cricothyrotomy, etc).  EM1 residents are also given two mini-retreats which are an informal discussion over dinner atthe Program Director's house. Additionally, the EM1 retreat, timed at the end of the EM1 year, is extended to five days to accommodate theAdvanced Trauma Life support (ATLS) course.

Scholarly Activity Project - Each resident is required to produce a scholarly project suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal or text in emergency medicine. This may be a research project,literature review, retrospective study, case report, or book chapter