Residency Program Overview

Postgraduate training in Emergency Medicine began in 1970 with the establishment of the nation's first residency at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The residency started with one resident in 1970. As of July 2012, we have had 14 residency positions per year, and we currently have 56 residents. The residency has full accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Many leaders throughout the world in both academic and clinical Emergency Medicine received their training at the University of Cincinnati.

• UC EM Alumni Map
• List of Recent Graduates and Last Known Appointment (DOCX)

In July 1982 the Department of Emergency Medicine expanded its residency program from a three-year format to a four-year format. The residents and the training program have enjoyed substantial benefits in many ways as a result of this expansion.

We believe that four years of Emergency Medicine training allows the resident to graduate with more clinical and professional maturity. While three years of clinical training is certainly adequate to become an Emergency Physician, a four-year model allows residents to develop more effectively into clinical and academic leaders. As mentioned, our residents are often ready to transition into leadership roles immediately after training or enter their top choice of fellowship. However, as there is very little ED clinical time during fellowships, a year of fellowship training is not equivalent to the fourth year of our program.

The fourth year is structured as a junior faculty role in which the R4 oversees both EM R1s, off-service residents and medical students caring for patients in a 32-bed unit. This model allows the R4 to develop crucial skills both in ED management and supervision as well as education, while at the same time significantly increasing his or her own number of patient encounters. These are skills that serve our graduates well whether they seek out academic or community EM careers after residency training.

Another benefit of the fourth year is the increased elective time available to allow for the development of a particular area of interest, the completion of research projects, or the strengthening of a perceived area of weakness. Not only do these additional experiences make our residents better clinicians, they help to prepare them for a career in academic medicine and/or leadership, should they choose to pursue such a pathway.

Our educational mission is not only to train Emergency Physicians to develop the clinical skills to succeed in any clinical environment, but also to train Emergency Physicians to develop the professional skills to become leaders in Emergency Medicine. Our goal is to provide residents with the skills that they need to get the “dream job” on graduation – and if you talk to our graduates across the country, you will find that we are successful in achieving this goal.

Program Overview

• First Emergency Medicine training program in the United States, established 1970.
• Fifty-seven clinical faculty members residency-trained in Emergency Medicine.
• Fifty-six Emergency Medicine residents over four years of training.
• Active clinical and basic science research with substantial NIH and corporate funding of investigators.
• The Center for Emergency Care provides a state-of-the-art treatment facility for emergency patients with a new expanded ED that opened July 2023
• Busy University-based Emergency Department at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with over 60,000 adult visits yearly and is a Level I Trauma Center.
• Two community hospital Emergency Department experiences at two busy suburban hospitals; West Chester Hospital sees 42,000 patients per year and is a Level III Trauma Center, and The Jewish Hospital which sees 27,000 per year.
• Affiliation with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center main campus, as well as their suburban Liberty community campus, seeing in combination over 90,000 ED visits per year.
• Pre-hospital medical control and EMS oversight coordinated by the Department of Emergency Medicine at University of Cincinnati.
• ACGME-accredited Fellowship training also available in Emergency Medical Services.
• Air Care Aeromedical Program which makes over 1250 flights per year with 40% scene flights and 36 hours of daily resident flight physician coverage.
• Significant elective time to pursue individual interests in the field of Emergency Medicine.
• Extensive medical student educational opportunities in Emergency Medicine, offering residents the opportunity to teach medical students in both the preclinical and clinical years and provide mentorship.