Student Program


Medical Student Programs

Our Commitment

The mission of the Regions Hospital Emergency Medicine Residency is to educate, mentor and inspire the next generation of humanistic emergency physicians to excel in any clinical setting and prepare them as leaders in Emergency Medicine. This commitment starts with providing world class medical student education in a challenging, diverse clinical environment.  The primary goal of our EM rotations is to offer medical students an opportunity to develop a broad understanding of the fundamentals of emergency medicine. 

Overview

Each year more than 100 students from around the country rotate with us. Medical students need opportunity, responsibility and daily feedback in the course of their clinical rotations. We provide medical students the opportunity to be the first provider to evaluate undifferentiated emergency department patients, synthesize a differential diagnosis/plan and function as independently as possible. Through the course of our 4-week rotation, we expect that students will learn to make evidence based decisions, multi-task and take responsibility for their patient’s care.  Feedback is provided to all levels of learners at the conclusion of each shift.

We are proud to offer 2 distinct Emergency Medicine rotations to meet the educational needs of the next generation of physicians.

Core Emergency Medicine (7500)

Please note: This course is only offered to University of Minnesota Medical Students.  This includes Twin-Cities, Duluth, REACH, HELIX and RPAP students.

This rotation provides medical students with first-hand experience in dealing with emergency problems in our Level-1 Trauma Center. Students work with senior emergency medicine residents with supervision by board certified attending staff.  Feedback is expected to be provided to the student at the conclusion of each shift.  Weekly workshops and didactics complement the clinical experience.  A mid-rotation evaluation is provided for additional feedback.  US tutorials, cadaver lab, suturing workshop and a final meeting are provided by the university.

Advanced Emergency Medicine (7600)

The Advanced Emergency Medicine course at Regions Hospital is designed for medical students interested in pursuing a career in Emergency Medicine. During this 4 week sub-internship, EM bound students have the opportunity to work directly with the attending physician with a level of responsibility similar to an EM intern. This heightened expectation includes: evaluation of the undifferentiated patient, case presentation, differential diagnosis and plan, re-evaluation/updating, discharge, ancillary communication/admission, documentation and basic procedures. Each student will be assigned a faculty advisor with whom they will work multiple shifts.  This is intended to provide more longitudinal exposure, improved continuity of educational feedback and mentorship. Individual career advising with residency program leadership is also available to every EM-bound student. In addition to approximately 12 Emergency Department shifts, students will have an administrative day (MSOD) where they shadow a resident, participate in hospital committee meetings and perform a brief case presentation. They will also be expected to attend weekly didactic conference and small group sessions, 4 weekly workshops (toxicology, simulation, ortho/splinting and eye/slit lamp exam) and participate in an EMS ride along. There is a final examination at the conclusion of the rotation. The goal of the rotation is to provide comprehensive exposure to clinical EM and provide each student with the feeling of autonomy to manage undifferentiated ED patients. We participate in the VSAS application process and accept advanced students from May – November. 

Applications for visiting students are accepted through VSAS.

Diversity

The Emergency Department at Regions Hospital strives to deliver the best patient care for all patients. We recognize that developing a broader understanding of cultural differences is the foundation of providing exceptional patient experience and outcomes to a diverse patient population. Recognizing that health disparities disproportionately cause inferior health outcomes for underserved groups, we actively work to improve care for our marginalized patients and create a diverse team that can understand the unique cultures and experiences that exist in our community. This ongoing effort involves emphasizing culturally competent care, partnering in service with local organizations, and robust didactics to explore diversity and inclusion. 

In order to achieve this goal, the Regions Hospital Emergency Medicine Residency has developed a dynamic curriculum which incorporates education on cultural humility, justice, and racism. Our didactic conference feature topics such as health care disparities, implicit bias, human trafficking, health equity and medical ethics. We integrate our residency program into our community by partnering with the Union Gospel Mission, participating in Advocacy Day at the Minnesota State Capitol and touring facilities in St. Paul in order to better understand the resources available to our most vulnerable patient populations. 

As part of our commitment to increasing diversity in our department, the next generation of emergency medicine physicians and the EM specialty, we have developed an Emergency Medicine Underrepresented Student Sub-Internship for students interested in pursuing a career in emergency medicine. We encourage all students to apply.

Emergency Medicine Clerkship Diversity Scholarship

Regions Hospital

Regions Hospital is a Level-1 trauma center for adult and pediatric patients, certified burn center, certified stroke center and is recognized by Healthgrades® as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals.  The emergency department had 89,000 patient visits in 2019.  Formerly known as St. Paul – Ramsey County Medical Center, Regions is the safety net hospital for the east metropolitan area with a long tradition of education of both residents and medical students.  It remains one of the largest teaching sites for University of Minnesota residents and medical students.  We believe in a team atmosphere with an emphasis on wellness for staff, learners and patients.

Conferences

Students are required to attend weekly didactic conference.  Core students are required to attend 2.5 hours of conference per week.  Advanced students are required to attend 5 hours of conference per week.  A wide variety of emergency medicine topics are covered during these sessions. Students are held responsible for their attendance.

Workshops

Rotating students are offered four hands-on workshops designed to develop specific important clinical skills.  The 4 rotating workshops are toxicology, simulation, eye (with slit lamp skill session), and orthopedics (with splinting skill session).   In addition to the workshops, EM bound students completing the advanced rotation receive an ultrasound tutorial, EMS ride-along, US guided IJ workshop, a nonclinical MSOD admin day and advising by program leadership.

Mid-Rotation Meeting

At the beginning of the third week of the rotation each student will meet privately with a course director to review the student’s progress.  During this session all clinical evaluations are reviewed and discussed.  In the event that the student or clerkship director’s schedule does not allow an in person meeting a phone meeting will be arranged.

Final Meeting

A summative review session is given during the final week of the rotation.  During this session each student’s pre-rotation expectations are discussed, feedback is provided/solicited and advising/mentorship is offered.

Final Examination

During the final week of our rotations a final examination is given to each student.  This examination tests the student’s knowledge of Emergency Medicine.

Online Curriculum

All recommended reading materials are available through CORD at the CDEM site https://cdemcurriculum.com/tag/cord/.  Workshop and conference schedules are accessible through the Regionsem.org website.

Directors

Brad Hernandez, MD

Keith Henry, MD

Please contact Kristi Lamb at Kristi.M.Lamb@Healthpartners.com or Brad Hernandez, MD Bradley.S.Hernandez@HealthPartners.com with any questions.

Apply through VSAS