Educating the next generation of leaders in Emergency Medicine and EMS is at the core of our mission. We strive to open doors for learners with an interest in prehospital medicine early on in their careers — to provide them with immersive, hands-on experiences that teach them all aspects of physician leadership in EMS systems, as well as the importance of developing trust and reciprocity with first responders.
Whether through exploratory learning or advanced competencies in EMS system development, oversight, and improvement, we are dedicated to educating and mentoring physician learners at all levels to become leaders in the specialty of EMS.
Medical Student Experience
UW Medical Students have many opportunities to gain exposure to prehospital medicine through the Phase 3 Prehospital Selective Course and fourth-year Emergency Preparedness Core Day. These opportunities include EMS ride-alongs, 911 Communication Center observation shifts, and interviewing local EMS Chiefs. “EMER MED 911” provides a unique opportunity for fourth year medical students to gain experience in the prehospital system while utilizing their public health knowledge to determine factors that lead to patient utilization of this system. During this course, students gain understanding of the prehospital system through first-hand experience with prehospital providers while appreciating the environment in which their patients live and work. Students will be asked to observe patient care, conduct post-transport interviews in the emergency department, and examine the social and environmental determinants that led to activation of the prehospital system.
Residency Training
Our emergency medicine residents are required to complete a four-week rotation in which they are heavily immersed in EMS. They ride along with Madison Fire Department paramedics, complete advanced training in Incident Command Systems (ICS) and give educational lectures to agencies in the UW Health EMS Consortium and Dane County EMS. Residents also have the option to customize an EMS elective during their third year, which may include topics such as disaster preparedness, advanced EMS medical direction, quality improvement, and/or research. Our residents have gone on to train in nationally recognized fellowships and serve in prominent leadership roles at prestigious U.S. medical centers.
Doc Ops Program
Our residents are first exposed to the work of field EMS responders through a half-day immersion program called “Doc Ops.” One of only a handful in the United States, Doc Ops was created in 2010 to give interns an opportunity to walk in the boots of local firefighters and paramedics by participating in training exercises involving burning buildings, vehicle extrications and other mock emergencies as part of their orientation to residency. First-year resident physicians come away with a new appreciation for the pressures facing emergency responders, which helps build strong relationships that ultimately improves communication, teamwork and patient outcomes.
Fellowship
The EMS Section offers an ACGME-accredited EMS fellowship. With our access to primary medical direction, tactical EMS, dive medicine, flight medicine, event medicine, Heavy Urban Rescue Teams and Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, as well as County and State advocacy, we offer an unprecedented fellowship experience. Learn more…
UW Health Emergency Education Center
The UW Health Emergency Education Center provides AHA training for all of the UW Health organization, and is the lead in EMS Primary and Continuing Education for the UW. The EEC also has provided training for Primary Paramedic Students since the 1970’s and is one of only a handful in the State to achieve accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation.
The EMS Section is heavily involved with reviewing and approving their educational content, and our physicians regularly teach during the course. Additionally, the EMS Liaison for UW Health is also an educator with the EEC, who helps coordinate EMS outreach, QA and continuing education planning.
