At the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine, our focus is advancing the health of our community through unparalleled investments in education and training, rigorous discovery and collaboration, and compassionate patient care. Our commitment to remarkable healthcare drives us forward, always focused on turning adversity into opportunity and redefining the limits of our specialty.
Training Tomorrow's Leaders in Emergency Medicine
Medical Students
All medical students at the University of Wisconsin complete rotations in the emergency department. We offer additional courses, interest groups, and immersion experiences for students looking to spend more time exploring our specialty.
Residents
Our emergency medicine residency program prepares physicians for the future of health care within both academic and community settings, and offers an optional year for residents seeking to undertake advanced training after graduation.
Fellows
Our department sponsors several emergency medicine fellowships and postgraduate training opportunities, designed to support junior physicians in launching their careers while learning from exceptional faculty mentors.
Advancing Emergency Care Research & Innovation
The Department of Emergency Medicine’s federally funded research enterprise focuses on health services and care transitions studies. A key aim is to identify health care gaps and optimize effective health services for all populations.
Our faculty investigators are nationally recognized leaders in much of the research they conduct, yielding critical discoveries in areas such as aging and brain health, geriatric emergency care, infectious diseases, prehospital medicine, pediatrics, and systems engineering.
And our Emergency Department Research Coordinator Program provides cutting-edge clinical study management and enrollment services for UW campus researchers and industry sponsors, including device trials.
Providing Remarkable Patient Care
With four emergency departments, internationally renowned air and ground critical care transport capabilities, and expert medical direction and physician response services, we are equipped to provide patients and referring care teams with a complete range of primary and specialty emergency care services.
Department News & Events
Recent News & Announcements

UW study on ambulance safety earns top honor at national EMS conference
Dr. Michael Spigner received the Best Scientific Presentation award for his plenary abstract assessing time saved during ambulance transport by using lights and sirens...
February 13, 2026
Designing lunar surface missions for how the brain handles strain
As NASA plans crewed surface missions to the Moon and Mars, researchers say managing cognitive fatigue may be essential for safe, effective deep space exploration...
January 30, 2026
Community partnership creates new pathway into fire and EMS careers
The Department of Emergency Medicine is partnering on a community-driven workforce pathway program to open doors to local firefighting and EMS careers...
January 8, 2026
WPR highlights UW Med Flight whole blood transfusion initiative
According to Dr. Ryan Newberry, only a small number of emergency medical services nationwide have the capability to deliver whole blood in the field...
December 30, 2025- More News
UW Health Emergency Education Nights Webinar Series
“Time is the enemy: Field decision-making in rapidly deteriorating patients”
March 18, 2026, 6-7 p.m. CST
Register for this continuing education webinar »
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Featured Stories
From bedside to breakthrough: Inside the cutting-edge program powering emergency care research at UW Health
The Emergency Department Research Coordinator Program enables the safe, efficient conduct of research studies at UW Health emergency departments, with access to approximately 250,000 patients and visitors eligible to participate in research each year...

Study finds routine antibiotics offer no benefit for hospitalized COVID-19 patients
A large cohort study published in JAMA Network Open offers the best evidence to date that routinely prescribing antibiotics to hospitalized COVID-19 patients...
July 25, 2025
Brothers in care: Two physician assistants find a shared calling in emergency medicine at UW Health
Brothers Ben and Branden Statz share more than a last name — they share a calling. The Waunakee-born physician assistants work side by side in...
October 27, 2025
Flight physicians reflect on 40 years of UW Health Med Flight
Forty years ago, UW Health Med Flight answered its very first call — a flight to Adams-Friendship on April 23, 1985, that would set the tone for decades...
April 28, 2025
Support the Future of Emergency Medicine
The BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine is grateful for your support. Your generosity helps us to advance our impact by supporting research and educational opportunities for learners and building partnerships throughout Wisconsin and the world. With your help, we can do even more. Please consider supporting our work today.


