Emergency Medicine Residency Program Curriculum

Residents train in a fast-paced, hands-on clinical learning environment with all levels of patient acuity. Our university and community training sites provide combined emergency department patients of nearly 200,000 per year—and that number is increasing. Residents grow their emergency medicine skills and knowledge in a supportive environment with graded clinical responsibility.

Virtual Tour


Depending on your rotation, you may train at facilities across our system. Explore below a few of the spaces where residents of this program spend a lot of their time. Navigate the drop-down to switch rooms and use your mouse (or finger for touch screens) to rotate around the room.

Clinical Rotations

All clinical rotations are four weeks in duration. WFBMC (Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center) includes both the adult emergency department (ED) and Brenner Children's ED.

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

Emergency Medicine
WFBMC ED (7)

Emergency Medicine
WFBMC ED (9)
Community ED (1)

Emergency Medicine
WFBMC ED (9)
Community ED (1)

Anesthesia/Ultrasound/EMS
Coronary Care Unit (CCU)
Medical ICU
Obstetrics
Trauma Surgery

Pediatric ICU
Trauma ICU
Elective

Medical ICU
Elective (2)

All WFBMC ED rotations include pediatric ED shifts.

Pediatric ED shifts (~20%) are scheduled during each WFBMC ED rotation during all three years.

  • Community ED rotation occurs at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital, located in Greensboro, NC, a 30-minute drive from Winston-Salem.
  • Additional community and rural EM experiences are available during electives.
  • The EMS rotation requires ground ambulance observation shifts and optional helicopter shifts.

Electives include:

  • Academic EM
  • Administration
  • Anesthesia
  • Cardiology
  • Dentistry
  • Disaster medicine
  • EMS/Aeromedical
  • Forensics
  • Global health
  • Neurology
  • Pediatrics
  • Plastic surgery
  • Radiology
  • Research
  • Sports medicine
  • Tactical medicine
  • Toxicology
  • Advanced ultrasound
  • Wilderness medicine

Conferences and Didactics

Education is a fundamental component of our residency program, and we continue to apply new didactic strategies for our trainees. Our conference room is equipped with some of the most advanced presentation technology, leading to a more effective and interactive learning environment.

Emergency Medicine Weekly Conference

Wednesdays, 8 am to noon

Activities include:

  • Grand Rounds Lectures
  • Emergency Medicine (EM) Core Content Lectures
  • Problem-Based Learning
  • Difficult Case Conference
  • Academic Research/Project Showcase Ethics Conference
  • EM "Hot Topics"
  • Board Preparation – Mock Oral Boards
  • Morbidity and Mortality
  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Patient Care Quality and Safety
  • Interdepartmental Conferences
  • Small Group Series
  • Journal Club

About the Weekly Conference

  • Faculty cover the emergency department (ED) so residents are released to attend conferences.
  • The majority of lecture instruction is led by emergency medicine faculty.
  • Our conference room is equipped with state-of-the-art AV presentation equipment, including audience response tools as well as the ability to stream to our associated ED sites and record for later viewing.
  • Residents have access to a comprehensive medical library and electronic resources as they prepare their lecture materials.

Hands-on Learning Activities

  • Advanced Airway Lab
  • Advanced Wound Care Lab
  • Cadaver/Procedure Lab
  • EMS Extrication Workshop
  • Tactical Medicine Workshop
  • Central Line Course
  • Ultrasound Boot Camp
  • Physician Self Defense Course
  • Patient Simulation

Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

Pre-hospital care is an important part of the emergency medicine specialty. Our residency provides a structured educational EMS curriculum for our residents. We offer exposure to the complete range of pre-hospital care, from an advanced urban/suburban paramedic system responding to 36,000 calls per year to involvement in a state-of-the-art aero-medical service.

Year One

Exposure begins in the first year, when our interns are required to participate in ground EMS ride-alongs with the Forsyth County EMS. Residents can also volunteer to fly with our busy helicopter service, AirCare.

Year Two and Three

Our second- and third-year residents become more involved with providing online medical command for incoming EMS ground and aero-medical units. Opportunities also exist to participate in the education of our EMS providers and to become the assistant medical director for some of our outlying rural EMS units.

Additional Opportunities

Several other opportunities exist for residents interested in EMS. Electives can be taken in ground EMS, EMS administration and aero-medical medicine. Interested residents can also join the local EMS disaster response team, Special Operations Response Team (SORT), for which one of our faculty members serves as medical director.

SORT members are trained in disaster medicine, including hazardous materials. They are often activated by the federal government to provide disaster relief to hurricane victims. SORT also staffs many of the large sporting events in the local area, including Wake Forest University football games.

Scholarly Projects and Research

Our residency program requires all residents to complete a Scholarly Activity Project. Numerous opportunities exist for residents to collaborate with faculty on research, administrative, or education projects. Program applicants who come to residency with an interest in continuing research initiated prior to residency, or those candidates hoping to pursue a research project as a primary investigator should contact our Resident Research Director, David M. Cline, MD, so that their endeavors might be facilitated prior to starting residency.

Frequently Asked Questions