The first year of training is designed to give a resident the strong background in various specialties, which they will need to practice clinical medicine. At the same time, they are taught to use these skills in the application of emergency medicine. Emphasis is placed on enabling the resident to translate the considerable knowledge base already obtained in medical school from the classroom to the clinical setting. The program stresses the importance of good interpersonal and communication skills as well as the importance of professionalism. Problem solving and logical thinking skills are fundamental to the successful practice of medicine and the faculty continually helps the residents to become proficient in using these tools in the clinical setting. The resident will see the natural progression of various pathologic states and the results of the therapeutic modalities employed in the treatment of patients. Emphasis is placed on learning to obtain a problem-oriented history and physical examination and the ability to develop a practical list of differential diagnoses when seeing patients. Under guidance and supervision, the resident will examine and treat critically ill patients in the emergency department.

 

The educational process is a combination of clinical experiences and didactic sessions. The clinical rotations are as listed below.

 

Anesthesia/US	Duke University Medical Center	4 weeks
Pediatric EM	Duke University Medical Center	4 weeks
Medicine	Duke University Medical Center	4 weeks
ENT/Optho	Duke University Medical Center	4 weeks
Cardiology	Duke University Medical Center	4 weeks
Neurology	Duke University Medical Center	4 weeks
Obstetrics	Duke University Medical Center	3 weeks
Emergency Medicine	Duke University Medical Center	24 weeks
Vacation	Duke University Medical Center	4 weeks