Clinical Training Sites
Residents spend about 66% of their training at UNC Medical Center and 33% at WakeMed Medical Center, creating a unique blend of busy academic and community medicine. Residents spend time both on-service in the ED as well as off-service in both hospitals. All pediatric EM experiences occur at the WakeMed Children’s ED. All faculty at both institutions are board-certified or board-prepared in Emergency Medicine. Thus, our residents benefit from the guidance of academic practitioners as well as Emergency Medicine physicians in private practice. This combination of settings provides each resident with an opportunity to experience firsthand the variety of career paths available in Emergency Medicine.
UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, NC is a public 804 bed, tertiary care, level one trauma and burn center, serving as the primary training site. The ED cares for 70,000 patients a year and is staffed by UNC Department of Emergency Medicine faculty, which consists of more than 40 clinical and research faculty members who are dedicated to academics and education in the specialty of emergency medicine. Our patient population is very diverse: visiting from all over the state and beyond, both urban and rural areas; varied pay source with 20% uninsured, 30% Medicare, and 20% Medicaid; and different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds including 15% self-identified as Hispanic or Latino. The ED acuity is high, with an admission rate of just over 30%. Residents also spend 2 months in the ICU’s (MICU and NSICU) and 1 month on the Trauma service here.
UNC Hospitals in Hillsborough, NC (about 10 miles from Chapel Hill) is a newer 83-bed facility that provides a community hospital experience. Residents work in the ED which cares for over 28,000 patients per year, a number which continues to rise annually. It is staffed by the same UNC Department of Emergency Medicine faculty. It provides a great opportunity to work in a small community ED with limited resources and backup.
WakeMed Medical Center in Raleigh, NC is a private, not-for-profit 720 bed, tertiary care, level one trauma center, serving as the secondary training site. Attending physician coverage is through Wake Emergency Physicians (WEPPA), a large, independent, democratic group. The ED cares for over 135,000 patients per year, and residents work in the high acuity bays with ~50% admission rate and large numbers of procedures. Every EM block, residents also work ~20% of their ED shifts at WakeMed Children’s ED, which sees over 45,000 kids per year. Residents also spend several months in the ICU’s here, including PICU, MICU, and SICU.
WakeMed North began as a stand-alone ED but has grown to become a full service, acute care hospital, focusing on women’s health. The ED cares for 48,000 patients a year and residents work alongside WEPPA physicians. It provides another great opportunity to work in an environment with less subspecialty backup.