Emergency Medical Services

EMS Fellowship

Emergency Medical Services Fellowship within the Department of Emergency Medicine at BIDMC is a medical subspecialty that involves prehospital emergency patient care. EMS medicine includes initial patient stabilization, treatment, and transport in specially equipped ambulances, helicopters or other vehicles to hospitals, as well as specialized care delivery such as mobile integrated health, tactical EMS, mass gathering & event medicine, search & rescue/technical rescue.

The purpose of EMS subspecialty training is to provide education and specific qualifications for EMS practice. Fellowship training will enable physicians to proficiently conduct all aspects of EMS operations, system medical direction and to serve as physician leaders in disaster mitigation, planning, response and recovery. This includes treatment of clinical problems, management of the EMS system as a public health resource, education of the public, supervision, training and education of EMS personnel delivering medical care, and provision of medical leadership.

As recommended by a 2006 Institute of Medicine report, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) became the sixth subspecialty available to American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) diplomats. The Department of Emergency Medicine at BIDMC EMS fellowship will train the next generation of EMS physician by leveraging the expertise and resources of our world-class faculty.

About Our EMS Fellowship 

Clinical Experience 

At the core of the subspecialty of EMS is the care of sick and injured patients outside of the hospital environment. The fellow will be expected to work in the prehospital environment providing direct patient care, clinical supervision of EMTs/paramedics, and on scene medical control for EMS agencies under the medical direction of BIDMC. The fellow will also gain clinical experience through the opportunity to work with the federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT), tactical support for local/state/federal SWAT teams, and providing medical coverage for mass gatherings at Fenway Park.

Didactics/Curriculum

The curriculum of the fellowship is based on "Core Content of Emergency Medical Services Medicine" as published in Prehospital Emergency Care. Additionally, trainees will take certain EMS related coursework including but not limited to ICS training through FEMA and the Medical Director Course from NAEMSP. Areas of the curriculum not included in the aforementioned coursework will be covered in small group lessons and independent reading. Local teaching will include structured didactics and Journal Club.

Research/Scholarly Activity

The fellow will be asked to identify a major research area of interest to be pursued during the remainder of the program. The fellow will be expected to submit at least one abstract to a major national conference such as (the annual meetings of the Society of Academic Emergency or the National Association of Emergency Medical Services Physicians). In addition, the fellow will be expected to submit a paper to a recognized peer reviewed journal in the emergency medicine, EMS or disaster fields. Fellows will be expected to prepare an application suitable for submission for grant funding at the local, regional or national level. The trainee will lecture to the emergency medicine residents on relevant EMS topics. The fellow under the direction of the EMS faculty will help coordinate and oversee the EMS rotation for residents. The fellow will help oversee and provide ongoing continuing education for prehospital personnel. The fellow will also complete the responsible conduct of research course through Harvard Catalyst.

Program Duration

The program duration is one year.

Eligibility

Applicants must have completed residency training in Emergency Medicine and be board-certified or board-eligible by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.

Clinical excellence and strong EMS experience required.