Emergency Medicine Residency Program

Subspecialty opportunities

Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) prides itself on the vast array of additional experiences offered during residency training. Residents are actively involved in fields of emergency medicine that many other programs can't provide. Attendings with years of experience in the arenas of international emergency medicine, EMS/tactical/event medicine, wilderness medicine, ultrasound, and research enthusiastically involve EM residents at all stages of training.

International emergency medicine

LLUMC boasts the oldest international emergency medicine fellowship in the nation, providing residents unique opportunities not found in most emergency medicine residency programs. Directed by professor Tamara Thomas, MD, FACEP, and Assistant Professor Debbie Washke MD, the international emergency medicine program is actively working abroad throughout the year. The program plans and executes both humanitarian medical expeditions as well as projects designed to teach the practice of emergency medicine to countries developing the specialty. Interested residents are active participants in all aspects of these projects and many residents take the opportunity to travel and work abroad during their residency.

International Emergency Medicine Fellowship

Photo: Dugout canoes - Solomon Islands

EMS/tactical/event medicine

Faculty physician Jeff Grange, MD coordinates the excellent opportunities offered by the program in EMS, tactical emergency medicine, and event medicine. He is also the director of the EMS fellowship available at LLUMC. EMS opportunities are available at both the local and national level. All residents can actively participate in pre-hospital training and education, as well as teaching ACLS, BTLS, and ATLS. See the Center for Prehospital Care web pages for further information about the EMS experience at Loma Linda and the EMS administration fellowship established July 2004.

Additional experiences available to interested residents include participation in the nationally deployed DMAT team, assuming positions as local medical directors for prehospital agencies, and disaster planning.  A new multimillion dollar project has brought a mobile telemedicine vehicle to the Loma Linda emergency department which has been implemented in disaster medicine training.

In addition to the activities listed above, interested residents are afforded the opportunity to actively participate in tactical EMS development and implementation. Local law enforcement agencies include physicians in both the education and tactical participation of their SWAT teams. Additionally, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's department provides mechanisms for physicians to become either citizen volunteers or deputized sheriffs. Both citizen volunteers and deputized sheriffs are able to then actively participate in the helicopter search and rescue teams.

Event medicine training opportunities are among the best in the nation due to Loma Linda's close associations with local concert venues and racetracks. The California speedway hosts numerous NASCAR and CART races throughout the year, and the Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen, the country's largest amphitheater, is famous for hosting large outdoor concerts and gatherings. Click on the links below to see some of the events at these busy venues.

Photo, above left: LLU resident physician undergoes training with the San Bernardino Sheriff's Air Rescue Team. Right: A resident physician takes a break from duties to experience a lap on the track.

California Speedway

Glen Helen Racetrack

Wilderness medicine

Situated in the largest county in California, LLUMC is ideally located for wilderness medicine training. The local San Bernardino National Forest, nearby coastal communities, Mojave Desert, and regional mountains provide residents with extensive Wilderness Medicine opportunities. Much of the training and education in this field is overseen by Dr. Sean Bush, one of the world's foremost authorities on envenomations and star of Animal Planet's "Venom ER." A one year envenomation fellowship run by Dr. Bush was first implemented July 2006.  Additionally, the active international EM program at LLUMC integrates nicely with wilderness medicine by providing opportunities for residents to participate in personal expeditions in high altitude, jungle, and desert environments while overseas.

Photo, right: Sean Bush during filming of "Venom ER" for Animal Planet.

Research

The emergency medicine residency research program provides residents with a number of opportunities to participate in selected areas of interest. Loma Linda University emphasizes clinical research, leading the nation on such pertinent topics as ketamine sedation, ultrasound applications in the emergency department, event medicine, international medicine, and controversies in the management of the febrile child. Animal and basic science research are also readily available within the University. The department has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and citations in the last three years.

Key: EMS - emergency medical services; ACLS - advanced cardiac life support; BTLS - basic trauma life support; ATLS - advanced trauma life support; DMAT - disaster medical assistance team