Conference Schedule
The Department of Emergency Medicine provides five hours of educational conference time each week, with an additional two hours each month devoted to Journal Club. Added attending coverage in the department ensures that all residents rotating in the Emergency Department can be excused from patient care to attend the entire conference day. Residents rotating on other services are also excused from clinical responsibilities to attend at least part of the conference day.
The core curriculum of Emergency Medicine, as defined by the American Board of Emergency Medicine, is covered in these conferences. The curriculum is organized around major topics, and is repeated every 18 months so that residents have the opportunity to hear and discuss all topics twice during their three-year residency.
Albany Medical Center faculty, as well as guest faculty from around the country, present lectures throughout the year. Emergency medicine residents also have the opportunity to prepare and present some lectures. Conferences are held on Wednesday mornings, and include a mixture of didactic presentations, interactive case-based conferences, and skills-based workshops.
Specific conferences supplement the core lectures:
- TRAUMA CONFERENCE: A biweekly, multidisciplinary conference to present and discuss interesting trauma cases. Cases are presented and discussed by representatives from emergency medicine, surgery, surgical subspecialties, radiology, and EMS.
- CORE REVIEW/JEOPARDY: A monthly review of the core content tested in the American Board of Emergency Medicine certification examination.
- MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY: Case-based review of recent cases with actual or potential morbidity or mortality. Presented by senior residents during their administrative rotation without identification of patients or providers, this monthly case-based conference emphasizes teaching and focuses on systems issues to improve care for future patients.
- WEEK IN REVIEW: Interesting clinical cases and recent, relevant literature are discussed in an interactive, problem-solving format at this monthly conference.
- RADIOLOGY: An interactive conference presented by the Radiology Residency Program Director with an emphasis on ED cases, approach, and pathology.
- JOURNAL CLUB: Selected readings from recent literature are presented and discussed over dinner at this informal monthly gathering.
- TOXICOLOGY: Survey of toxicology topics germane to EM.
- PEDIATRICS: Survey of core Pediatric EM topics.
- STEERING: Monthly resident meeting with the program directors and coordinator at which residents give feedback to impact the future direction of the program.
The third year class is supported to go to a national conference, and the residency also attends periodic regional conferences. Support is available for residents to present research at conferences, and an educational stipend is provided to each resident for individual use.
