Education

Welcome! We are glad you chose to visit our web site, and hope to answer many questions you may have about our program.

The Albany Medical Center Emergency Medicine Residency has been in place, and ABEM/RRC-approved, since its inception in 1988. We are a PGY 1-3 program with 10 resident physicians in each training year. Our last RRC visit was in 2006. We were approved for an additional 5 years, the longest approval period currently available.

What makes Albany Medical Center's Emergency Medicine training program unique?

Experience - Our Emergency Medicine training program is one of the oldest in the country, with approximately 140 resident graduates since program inception. A long history for the program means a well-trod path for you as a resident in Emergency Medicine as well as a large network of graduates across the country. In addition, program and department leadership are integrated extensively into all levels of leadership in the hospital and medical college.

A Dynamic Program - Despite our relatively long history as a training program in Emergency Medicine, we remain committed to evolving as our assets and resident needs evolve. For residents, this approach means a program that is flexible to each individual's needs and desires for their training and career in Emergency Medicine and beyond.

It's Emergency Medicine ... - Many programs in Emergency Medicine commit substantial resident time to floor rotations in medicine, surgery and pediatrics, in addition to clinic rotations in medical and surgical specialties. At Albany Medical Center, we believe that the best training asset in Emergency Medicine is our Emergency Department. Therefore, we do not commit our residents to lengthy floor rotations. Additionally, we believe critical care medicine is an essential component to Emergency Medicine residency training. As a consequence, our residents spend greater than 95% of their hospital-based training time in the Emergency Department or Critical Care Units.

A Balanced Approach to Residency Training - The best professionals are individuals who have a perspective on their many obligations and strive toward a balance between their career and life away from the hospital. This balance is a very personal and individualized commitment for each physician. Our philosophy toward residency training is to value this balance in word as well as action. Therefore, our resident work hours, shifts, and schedules allow for development as an emergency physician as well as for one's commitment to life away from residency: children, spouses, and passions that are unique to each resident.

A Great Place to Live - Albany, NY is a place that doesn't often appear in the lists of "Top 5 Best Places to Live." Residents of the New York Capital Region generally prefer to keep it that way for their own interests including cost of living, traffic, and crowding. Albany is an historic city that has played a pivotal role in the history of the United States. This role has created an integrated and progressive "small city" with a regional population of approximately 1.2 million residents and an economy with key sectors in government, technology and tourism. The cost of living is surprisingly low, particularly given the resources available throughout the Capital Region. For residency training, our large regional referral base means you'll see the most complicated medical, surgical, and pediatric patients from a referral base of 1.2 million residents. In addition to the Capital Region, our department serves a population of Albany residents that is quite diverse enabling an emergency medicine resident exposure to virtually everything, and anything, in medical pathology.

Close to Everything - Like the outdoors? Look at a map, and you'll quickly understand why Albany could be called the center of "outdoor paradise." From the Adirondacks to the north, the Berkshires to the East, the Shawingunks and Catskills to the South, and the Finger Lakes to the West, you'll find opportunities galore for skiing, snowboarding, hiking, climbing, cycling - both mountain and road biking, kayaking, and many other outdoor passions. There are approximately 10 programs in the country that, by virtue of location, offer extensive world-class outdoor recreation within 3 hours of the training site, and we're glad to be one of them! More of an urbanite, looking for culture? Albany is a short 2.5 hour travel by train or auto to New York City or Boston with many professionals commuting to New York City and living in the Capital Region to avoid the high cost of living in the Big Apple. Perhaps it's the arts or entertainment for you? Albany provides a wide range of cultural opportunities in every season. In addition, nearby Saratoga is a remarkable destination for culture, history, and of course, horse racing and equestrian events.

There are many more unique components to our people, place and program in Emergency Medicine, which we would be delighted to discuss with you in person. Take a look around our site, and please feel free to contact us if you desire more information about our passion: residency training in Emergency Medicine at Albany Medical Center.