About the Program

In an ever-changing landscape of modern healthcare, our combined residency program addresses the growing need for dual-trained physicians.

The EM/IM residency program at VCU is a combination of the existing and well-established EM and IM residencies and began training in July 2011. We accept two residents per year.

Our program's clinical training, like its respective parent programs, is at both VCU Medical Center and Richmond VA Medical Center. Both sites benefit from excellent full-time teaching faculty and serve unique patient care settings and patient populations. The Departments of Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine have several EM/IM and EM/Critical Care faculty who will provide outstanding mentorship to the program residents.

Graduates of EM/IM programs have traditionally accepted academic positions and many continue to utilize both aspects of their training. The EM/IM faculty at VCU work shifts in the ED and the Observation Unit, as well as attend on the wards. Our program prepares our trainees for any of the limitless career options available to them upon graduation. One unique niche for the EM/IM practitioner is the management of Observation Units, which can mitigate long wait times and ED overcrowding. Other common paths taken by EM/IM graduates include research, academic and administrative positions, rural/critical access medicine, and subspecialty training in Internal Medicine and/or Emergency Medicine.

Late in the second year of training, residents will pick a specific direction they would like their training to take based on the future career goals. The EM/IM schedule has been designed to allow the residents drawn to the program the ability to tailor their training appropriately to the many varied paths they may take. There are pre existing tracks in both the Emergency Medicine program and the Internal Medicine program that residents can choose. Alternatively, residents can customize their training with a large selection of EM/IM-specific tracks that correspond with the unique career paths combined residents take.

Curriculum

Each year, residents rotate between the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine, switching every 4-5 blocks. Didactic requirements include monthly journal club sessions and weekly conferences. EM/IM residents take part in both the Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine retreats annually.

Blocks are 4 weeks in length. Internal Medicine follows tandem-block scheduling, alternating between 2 weeks of inpatient and 2 weeks of outpatient/consult services. Below is an example of a block schedule by year in the program.

EM/IM-Led Initiatives

EM/IM-trained clinicians develop a unique perspective of healthcare, which allows them to find innovative solutions in health systems and patient care. EM/IM residents have the opportunity to work with faculty on these initiatives, including several of our active projects:

• Proper Care Clinic establishes rapid, virtual follow-up after an ED visit, preventing bouncebacks and connecting patients with appropriate outpatient services.
• Social Determinants of Health Screening ensures all ED patients are screened for housing, food, and financial insecurity as well as other needs. Patients that screen positive are subsequently connected with ED-based outreach workers that help to provide resources, establish primary care with local providers, and initiate insurance screening.
• ACCESS-EM is a VCU School of Medicine curriculum that creates a framework for how to approach system development in low resource and global settings. More information is available here.

Prior EM/IM Initiatives:

• Rapid Disposition Team navigated and assisted with complex discharges alongside a multidisciplinary care team, especially in complicated patient circumstances.
• Remote Patient Monitoring (Rom-Com) provided COVID-positive patient's with pulse-oximeters along with clinician check-in calls to monitor their clinical course at home and provide instructions to return to the ED when necessary.

Salary and Benefits

VCU is proud to offer competitive salaries compared to housestaff across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Cost of living adjustments occur each year.

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How to Apply

Join our talented and dedicated team

The VCU Department of Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine participates in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), and prospective residents can apply using the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) offered by the Association of American Medical Colleges.