Our Jax EM program is one the largest and most respected EM programs in the country! As a 3 year program, UF Jax gives our residents great autonomy and experience to prepare them to practice anywhere in the country after completing residency.

Our department is divided into 3 different areas: Flex Care, ECC, and Trauma/Resus. Each section plays a vital role in developing key skills for becoming a well rounded emergency physician. Our Flex Care area generally has lower acuity patients with a diversity of complaints akin to what you will see practicing at a community hospital.  A great opportunity for us to practice “real world”medicine, it is where our interns learn to start developing their own style while our 2nd years learn to take leadership roles in teaching and managing patient flow.  Although very sick patients can sometimes find their way into Flex, the ECC (Emergency Critical Care) area is generally where the higher acuity patients are seen. In this area our senior residents take over the leadership role and oversee our interns while the second years are the “worker bees” learning to further improve their patient care efficiency. Finally our Trauma/Resus area is where a second or third year resident is responsible for trauma patients presenting to our Trauma Center as well as the most critical or crashing medical patients. The Resus area has a set up and nursing system similar to an intensive care unit, giving our critical patients the best chances for a good outcome. The sicker patients typically come in via rescue or Trauma One but may also be “rolled down” from other units for improved patient care and increased nursing coverage.

During your first year you will spend a total of four four-week blocks in the ED getting your feet wet and learning the basics of Emergency Medicine. The other months will be spent on off-service rotations throughout the hospital. You will spend four weeks in each of the following specialties: pediatric ED x2, MICU, CCU, Obstetrics, Orthopedics, ED Ultrasound/Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine and Trauma. These months are all important in building a foundation of core competencies as well as healthy working relationships with other residents and staff from these specialties.

Finishing first year gives you the confidence and knowledge you need to begin and excel in your second year where you will spend eight four-week rotations in the ED. You will complete two blocks in trauma/resus, which has been frequently cited by residents and medical students as one of the best rotations at UF Health-Jax.  In these blocks you not only manage your own critically ill patients but also work in conjunction with the trauma surgery team to manage all trauma patients admitted to our level one trauma center.  You will spend four weeks at Wolfsons Pediatrics ICU managing sick children in addition to longitudinal shifts in the pediatric ED throughout second and third year to keep up your pediatric acumen. You will also spend four weeks on a toxicology rotation, a unique opportunity as we house one of the few poison control centers in the state. Finally, you will complete one more block in the MICU, only this time you will be the senior on your team with an EM intern.

Your third year is spent with a solid nine rotations in the ED where you manage the area you are designated, educate the interns, and assist with patient flow. The first two years prepared you to appropriately manage patients in any setting, and this last year gives you the opportunity to fine tune these skills. You will continue to grow your knowledge base while developing other key proficiencies for our specialty including working as a leader, manager, and teacher. Outside of the department you will spend one block in the Surgical ICU, one EMS rotation where you will ride along with our rescue crews and see the intricacies of pre-hospital care, and two elective/selectives blocks.  Many of our third years choose to use one of these blocks to work closely with our Ultrasound guru, Dr. Duran, in getting credentialed in Ultrasound, but your possibilities are endless.