Our Emergency Medical Services (EMS) fellowship is a one-year program offering extensive, personalized clinical, research, and educational experiences in advanced prehospital competencies. As a member of the Division of Prehospital Medicine, the EMS fellow will work hand-in-hand with a team of dedicated faculty who have both vast and diverse domestic and global experience.
Our EMS team leads on- and off-line medical direction for several fire-, volunteer-, and third-service-based EMS agencies in Dane County, Green, and Rock Counties, with prehospital providers at all levels. Our primary hospital system includes Wisconsin’s #1 hospital and Level I Trauma and Burn Center.
Our EMS Fellowship is ACGME accredited. Qualified graduates are able to pursue subspecialty board certification through the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM).
Fellowship Overview
The EMS fellowship trains physicians in medical direction for ground and aeromedical transport, disaster preparedness, event medicine, tactical EMS, QA/QI, administration, advocacy, and prehospital research. Fellows gain leadership experience in teaching and curriculum development, including complex, high-fidelity field simulation.
By immersing the fellow in diverse environments ranging from urban to rural and allowing time for exploration of individual interests, we train physicians to be competent medical directors and future EMS leaders who are fully prepared to lead emergency care systems with advanced competencies in EMS system design, administration, and clinical care.
Fellows leave our program with the knowledge, skills, confidence, and vision to make real-world impact as highly trained medical directors right out of the gates.
Salary & Benefits
The EMS fellow is compensated at the annual stipend rate established by the UW Health Graduate Medical Education Office and also receives generous CME funding.
Program Details
Available Positions: 1
Program Length: 1 year
Start Date: July 1, 2025
Apply By: Sept. 15, 2024
Accreditation: ACGME
NRMP Match: Yes
Appointment: Clinical Instructor
Moonlighting: Available
Wisconsin is the best state for physicians, according to Medscape and Becker’s Healthcare (2024).
Fellowship Curriculum
Clinical Experience
The core component of the UW EMS fellowship is practical experience with ground transport EMS services. The fellow will be scheduled to perform ride-alongs, online and offline medical oversight, QA/CQI activities, and EMS advocacy at the local and state levels. These experiences provide the fellow with comprehensive, hands-on experience in the ground transport of patients of all ages and with multiple skill levels of providers.
- Access to the UW ALS Consortium: seven EMS agencies ranging from the second largest fire-based EMS systems in Wisconsin to rural, volunteer services, as well as larger Dane County and regional services.
- 24/7 scene response with ALS-equipped physician response vehicles
- Exposure to Heavy Urban Rescue, Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, and Tactical EMS teams; critical care ground and air ambulance services; technical rescue training; diverse event medical experiences; pediatric EMS; airway management; ECMO; and more
- Participation in large scale mass casualty incident (MCI) training
- Expertise in clinical and prehospital informatics
- Protected non-clinical time for curriculum activities
Education
Our program offers robust curriculum development and teaching opportunities. The EMS fellow will develop and implement complex field simulations, as well as quality improvement and process development initiatives, including in-situ simulation.
- 140+ hours of educational didactics, including joint didactics with our Retrieval & Critical Care Transport Fellows
- 60+ teaching hours paramedics and EMS providers
- Prepare and deliver educational content at resident didactic conferences
- State-of-the-art simulation training ambulance (BADGER-3)
Additionally, the EMS fellow is supported to attend the NAEMSP Annual Meeting and Medical Directors course, NREMT Conference, and Center for Domestic Preparedness courses.
Research & Scholarship
The Department of Emergency Medicine is a national leader in emergency care clinical and translational research. We are engaged in prehospital scholarship and research, with guidance and support from our departmental research committee and dedicated EMS quality and patient safety clinical care groups.
Michael Mancera, MD
Fellowship Director
Megan Gussick, MD
Prehospital Division Chief
Michael Lohmeier, MD
Lead Medical Director, Ground EMS
Prehospital Medicine Faculty
We have an excellent team of multidisciplinary academic physicians, many board certified in EMS*. Providing high-quality clinical care while teaching and mentoring the next generation of prehospital leaders is our passion, and we are committed to providing each resident and fellow with individualized training and development. Our dedicated support staff assist faculty and fellows in administrative tasks and coordinate operational programs for the division.
We are proud to have a collegial, supportive and collaborative environment here at UW, and we are proud of the remarkable care we provide for our patients and prehospital community.
Learn more about our faculty and programs »
All Division faculty Emergency Medicine Services UW Med Flight
EMS Faculty
Michael Mancera, MD*
Megan Gussick, MD*
Michael Lohmeier, MD*
Michael Kim, MD
Michael Spigner, MD, NRP*
Craig Tschautscher, MD, MS, DRTM*
Academic Med Flight Faculty
Ryan Newberry, DO, MPH, EMT-P*
Andrew Cathers, MD, DRTM*
Brittney Bernardoni, MD
Michael Abernethy, MD, DRTM
Ryan Wubben, MD
EMS Partners
UW Physicians are trusted to provide exemplary medical direction and advisory services to some of the area’s largest and most diverse EMS agencies, including Dane County EMS, UW Health EMS Consortium, and the South Central Wisconsin Healthcare Emergency Readiness Coalition.
Living in Madison
Madison is consistently ranked one of the best places to live in the U.S. on measures ranging from fitness to food to family life. The state’s beloved lakeside capital boasts plenty of outdoor adventure year-round, as well as vibrant arts, culinary, education, sustainability, and technology hubs.
EMS Fellowship Alumni
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Kiriana Morse, MD (2023-2024)
Dr. Kiriana Morse obtained her medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center and completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
During her EMS fellowship, Dr. Morse and fellowship director Dr. Mike Mancera led efforts to bring point of care ultrasound (POCUS) to Fitch-Rona EMS as a valuable diagnostic tool, making it the first EMS agency in Dane County to implement ultrasound devices and one of only a few emergency medical services in Wisconsin capable of utilizing ultrasound. They also designed and coordinated the POCUS training curriculum for paramedic-level providers. The tool will focus on use in patients thought to be in cardiac arrest to correctly make assessments in under 30 seconds.
“Working to help implement prehospital ultrasound has been one of the highlights of my EMS fellowship and a great learning experience,” says Morse. “It demonstrates the amazing ways our local EMS agencies are helping advance prehospital medicine and improve patient outcomes.”
Dr. Morse is an emergency medicine attending physician and EMS educator at The Elliot Hospital and New England EMS Institute and Dartmouth College-affiliated medical education programs. She lives in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Katherine Darr, MD (2021-2022)
Dr. Katherine Darr obtained her medical degree from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, where she graduated Cum Laude. She then completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at Detroit Receiving Hospital, where she served as chief resident. Dr. Darr trained with UW as an EMS Fellow from July 2021-June 2022.
Her clinical interests include event medicine, disaster preparedness and teaching in the prehospital setting. Some accomplishments during her EMS fellowship include:
- Presented 20 lectures to prehospital providers
- Associate Medical Director position with a local EMS agency
- Flight physician with UW Health Med Flight
- Provided medical direction for multiple events, including three UW Badgers home football games.
- Participated in the NAEMSP Medical Direction Overview Course, Annual Meeting and Quality and Safety Course
- Participated in the Center for Domestic Preparedness Hospital Emergency Response Training (HERT) course and became a clinical instructor for FEMA
- Participated in the FDNY Medical Special Operations Conference
- Worked with multiple special prehospital teams, including Dane County Tactical EMS and the City of Madison Fire Department Dive Team
Dr. Darr is currently an Emergency Physician and EMS Medical Director at Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee, IL.
Emily Fleming, MD (2020-2021)
Dr. Fleming obtained her medical degree from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, where she graduated Cum Laude, and completed her residency in emergency medicine at the University of Wisconsin. Her academic/clinical interests include teaching, both in the academic and prehospital settings, and leading prehospital provider teams. Some accomplishments during her EMS fellowship include:
- Presented 30 educational lectures to area prehospital providers
- Created a scholarly project around EMS curriculum for emergency medicine residents and gave an oral presentation at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health’s annual Medical Education Day
- Participated in the NAEMSP Medical Direction Overview Course and Annual Meeting
- Served as Associate Medical Director with a local EMS agency
- Completed a one-week Tactical EMS training course at the U.S. Army Reserve’s Fort McCoy, located two hours north of Madison, Wis.
Dr. Fleming is currently an emergency medicine physician with Illinois Emergency Medicine Specialists, in association with Loyola Medicine.
Application Guidelines
The EMS fellowship program participates in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Match. Candidates must be a board-certified/eligible physician having graduated from an accredited emergency medicine residency program. Applications must be submitted through the process outlined below.
Applications are due by September 15, 2024 for a July 1, 2025 program start date. To apply, please submit the following materials:
- Completed EMS Fellowship application form
- Current CV
- Three (3) references, one of which must be the applicant’s Residency Program Director
- One (1) letter of recommendation. Letters should be addressed to Dr. Michael Mancera, EMS Fellowship Director, and emailed to Kristina Maynard at kmaynard@medicine.wisc.edu
- Personal statement detailing why your interest in pursuing an EMS fellowship at the University of Wisconsin
Application materials and questions can be directed to:
Kristina Maynard, EMS Fellowship Coordinator
BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine
800 University Bay Drive, Suite 310
Madison, WI 53705
kmaynard@medicine.wisc.edu