About
Our Program
MetHarlem Emergency Medicine 3-Year Residency Program, now able to educate 36 residents, is proud to graduate accomplished, well-rounded doctors who are not only skilled in high acuity trauma but are enlightened to their integral role in upholding the health and safety of the communities they serve. With our long standing NYMC affiliation, we are proud to have a strong history of pushing the boundaries of diversity and gender equality.
We offer a rigorous and conscientious resident curriculum focused on the mastery and innovation of several emergency medicine elements in which our department accells including research, ultrasound, simulations, and pediatrics. With our team of nationally recognized faculty, each resident is both mentored and coached 1:1 through their time with us to help mold you into the strongest physicians possible and help push you beyond even your highest reaching goals.
By living and working in the most diverse and energetic city in the country, our residents are enriched by New York City's diverse educational environment. Our program offers rotations in several hospitals including Metropolitan Hospital, Harlem Hospital, and Westchester Medical Center. Having the advantage of learning in a variety of settings combined with our faculty and staff from vastly different cultural and training backgrounds, our residents are equipped to thrive in any situation and in turn harbor a deep sense of camaraderie with co-workers and the community.
Joining MetHarlem is to not only choose a competitive and passionate residency program, but to go above and beyond in the EM field by championing the underserved in the greatest city in the world. If you are seeking a dynamic Emergency Medicine program that values making you feel like you belong, and that will push you beyond your greatest potential, look no further.
Orientation
Our four week orientation at both Metropolitan and Harlem hospitals is designed to familiarize interns with the workings of both EDs and provide you with core medical knowledge and skills to be able to hit the ground running on day one. While there, newcomers will meet their fellow interns, current residents, faculty and staff. We prioritize a seamless and supported introduction to the program with plenty of time to get situated and have some fun. Also in this time, incoming residents are provided certification classes including BLS, ACLS, PALS, and ATLS.
The faculty and residents supply interns with all the information that they need to successfully begin residency, including:
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Core EM Topics
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ED Shadow Shifts
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Ultrasound Workshop
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Suture + Splint Workshop
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CIR Union Benefits Review
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EPIC Training
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Airway + Central Line Course
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Picnic Meet and Greet
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Practical Advice Small groups
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Management of the Critical Patient
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Happiness in EM Lecture
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Mental Health Resources
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Diversity Workshop and the History of Harlem
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"How To" Lectures (e.g. how to call a consult)
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Intern Olympics
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Storytelling and more!
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Wellness Day
For a change of pace, interns are invited to a Wellness day at Dr. Chirurgi’s beautiful lakeside home for a day of water activities and relaxation to get to know their new classmates and the program leadership.
Resident Didactics
Morning Reports
During the week at the beginning of your shifts at Metropolitan, we have mini teaching sessions called morning reports to infuse your clinical day with some dedicated learning. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, residents, attendings, PAs, and nurses gather for an interdisciplinary morning report, presenting topics of their own position. On Mondays and Fridays our faculty run oral board cases with the senior residents with other residents and students welcome to learn from as well.
Wednesday Weekly Conferences
Every Wednesday our residents attend an interactive flipped classroom style conference alternating from Metropolitan and Harlem Hospitals that follow the ABEM model of clinical practice. Residents are given readings and questions prior to conference to help stimulate their learning and lead the discussion with faculty support. Residents have protected time to attend conference. Different cases are run through with questions for medical students and interns focusing on core content. Seniors are given FOAMED style topics to satisfy everyone’s learning needs.Conference also includes morbidity and mortality lectures, CPC lectures, guest lecturers, Jeopardy, and many other engaging, interactive learning techniques. For a majority of the program, conference time will be protected for residents to avoid conflict or absence. Other exciting opportunities presented in Wednesday conferences include:
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Every other month, a day dedicated to simulation and procedure
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Journal Club
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Mock Inservice Day to prepare residents for the February exam
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Dedicated wellness conference days and holidays sprinkled throughout the year
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Mock Disaster In-sits Simulation Day + Interdepartmental Simulation Day
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Attendants of the regional ALLNYCEM conferences where MetHarlem attendings frequently guest lecture
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Wellness/storytelling sections
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Toxicology and Wilderness Medicine at The Bronx Zoo or at one of New York’s many botanical gardens
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Health Care Disparities Conference Days (e.g. LGBTQIA Community, URM Community) and Cultural Differences Training (e.g. intersection between religion and medicine small groups, how to deal with and mitigate micro aggressions given the rise in minority hate crimes, heteronormativity, gender inequities, implicit bias training, systemic racism and more)
All physicians in the EM department are part of constant discussions of clinical cases and articles on and off shift via the Slack platform thanks to our award winning teaching faculty so no matter what rotation or what time of the day, there is always the option to continue to learn from colleagues about clinical medicine.
Team building is very important in these meetings and every resident didactics, 30 minutes is spent going over residency announcements and having breakfast together provided by the department or a volunteering resident.
Speaking Opportunities
Dr. Adamakos, the Vice Chair of Education, has been a national lecturer for years who encourages and coaches residents one-on-one who want to pursue a career in academics and lecturing. Armed with this unique training, alumni have presented at other residencies, built rigorous CV’s and as a result have been appointed to highly coveted academic jobs. Residents are also encouraged and financially supported to present their lectures at national conferences such as CPC competitions at CORD, ACEP speaking competitions and more.
Board Prep
Residents have Board Prep lectures throughout the academic year and additional Tuesday evening board prep sessions for those who wish to attend. The week before the Inservice Exam the program hosts a board prep dedicated conference day so all can feel prepared for the upcoming test.
Mentorship, Feedback & Advisors
From the moment you are accepted into our program, the close relationships build and mentorships begin. Interns are paired with senior residents as well as attendings in order to provide a seamless transition. As well each resident from day one and thought your time with us receives coaching and academic advising by our Vice Chair of Education to work with your career goals and help guide you to the post residency career you want. Interns are introduced to resident communications via slack and we also offer a voluntary pre-intern curriculum leading up to July so once residency starts, you are immediately part of the team and ready for what residency has to offer. Formal mentorship lasts all three years of residency and by the time of graduation, natural advisory relationships are cemented that will continue on for years to come. Residents who are interested can also be mentors themselves to junior medical students through a special NYMC program so you can give back and extend the support early on in your career.
Feedback is an important part of a residents training and is done in real time on shift, through monthly feedback of overall clinical performance, and during semi-annual meetings. Residents follow a similar format and give the attendings bimonthly feedback as well. We believe very strongly that feedback is essential for growth for not just residents, but faculty alike.
MetHarlem also offers a unique "Women in Medicine" mentorship program to establish a network of support and promote necessary changes in emergency medicine. Mentorships extend beyond the clinical workspace and can include financial, career advancement, family and personal life advice. This is a fun way to see your colleagues and attendings outside the workplace as well as have formal discussions about tough topics. We include our male colleagues in these discussions as well and encourage back and forth conversations about sensitive subjects to foster an overall inclusive environment from both ends. No one gets left out at MetHarlem!
Scholarly Tracks
Though our program is only three years, our residents not only learn how to excel in Emergency Medicine but build an impressive CV. Under the guidance of leadership, second and third year residents become committee members and directors of different parts of the residency and departments depending on their interests post-graduation. You can think of this as a mini-fellowship in residency. Some choose to help run medical student education, others create simulation cases for conferences, run our wilderness section, chair the wellness committee, become diversity and inclusion resident directors.... The list goes on! Those interested in administration work closely with both departments and chairs getting them ready for fellowship or a junior administrative position outside of residency and those who want to pursue other fellowships work with those committees to help get them their number one fellowship upon graduation!
The purpose of the scholarly track is to help get you to your goals post graduation. We help you focus your non-clinical work such as lectures and research on your area of interest, send you opportunities to participate in regionally and nationally, help you network academically all across the globe in your area of interest and allow you to make changes such as create an elective in your area of interest or change the resident didactics so you graduate with unparalleled credentials.
Research
Our residents create or join a research project as an ACGME residency requirement. For those looking to dive deeper, we highly encourage publication and presentation and our program will cover expenses for residents to present their findings in local, regional, national or international conferences as well as reward those residents with a paid wellness day adventure!
Our department conducts a plethora of research studies every year with direct guidance from faculty for residents to build a strong academic portfolio. MetHarlem has our own research curriculum including journal clubs that you will actually enjoy being part of and learn from, and an abstract submission calendar so you always know the best regional and national opportunities to apply to.
Every year our resident represent at renowned conferences such as NYACEP, ACEP, SAEM and in countries all over the world including Italy, Zimbabwe, Australia and more. If research is your thing, you will have no shortage of it at MetHarlem.
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Administration
As a resident of Met-Harlem, you will be lucky to be part of rich and vast administrative opportunities. From day one, the doors are wide open to you and the possibilities for your career if you are interested. With the help of faculty from both hospitals high up on the local and regional HHC ladder, from deputy directors, chairs, disaster medicine directors, patient safety officers, to CMIOs your mentorship experience will be unparalleled. Between the endless QI projects which easily turn into national research projects and the Health Care Administrative Scholars Program (HASP Admin Fellowship in residency PGY 2-3 years), MetHarlem sets you up for a future successful career in administration. Don't forget our Post Graduate Administration Fellowship, the HHC Clinical Leadership Fellowship, which is uniquely designed as a pipeline program for HHC residents to become future leaders of NYC-HHC.
Simulation
Simulations at MetHarlem
MetHarlem has created a robust simulation curriculum that our residents run through on a bimonthly basis and can't get enough of! We have the privilege of our very own Harlem faculty member, Dr. Meguerdician, being the simulation director and fellowship director of the entire NYC-HHC public hospital system so as you can imagine simulation is our forte! As if Dr. Meguerdician isn't busy enough, he recently built a dedicated state-of-the-art simulation lab at Harlem hospital which was funded through a grant he was awarded for his work on incorporating diversity and improving health care inequities through simulation. Harlem hospital is one of the few hospitals in the country that has multiple black mannequins (ever realize the only mannequins you have ever seen are white?) including a birthing mannequin to help bridge gaps in healthcare and serve our Harlem community better through more robust training. These high fidelity, mannequin-based cases range from thought-provoking to “crash and burn”, from common to outlier events including training on implicit biases and communication gaps in order to advance system-wide patient safety and quality improvement initiatives. For more information on IMSAL and our work, please visit nychealthandhospitals.org/simulationcenter
As if simulation at NYC-HHC's IMSAL hub and Harlem hospital wasn't enough, we also have some fun things happening at Metropolitan! Our very own amazing ED PA Shterni Seligson is the director of hospital simulation and our recent alumni, a South American transplant and NYC physician at heart Dr. Dumont is now the director of emergency medicine simulation at Metropolitan. In-situ simulations are run on day and night shifts and throughout the hospital thanks to this amazing team to bring the benefits of simulation directly to the bedside with the actual staff that takes care of your patients. During your teaching block you will get to run create, run and debrief these events further enriching your robust education. Until then you will just have to enjoy being on the learner end of the surprise in-situ simulations.
Did we mention Metropolitan's faculty also comprises of Dr. Hassen, a full clinical professor, heavy research publisher, and the director of the ED 3D Printing lab? He works with the residents and simulation team to create 3D printed models to allows residents to become proficient in rare invasive procedures and has vast potential for publication.
We do other fun annual simulation based events such as SIMWARS! MetHarlem has our own annual SIMWARS as well as participates in regional and national SIMWARS competitions.
As you can imagine with this all-encompassing simulation education, you are well prepared for a career in academics if that is your goal. If you really fall in love with simulation during your time with us, we encourage you to apply to our very own HHC Simulation Fellowship!
Ultrasound
Ultrasound Training
Residents use ultrasound on their ED shifts as well as spending two dedicated weeks during first year residency on an ultrasound rotation. The goal is for the EM resident to surpass the minimum number of required ultrasounds dictated by the ACEP (American College of Emergency Physicians) guidelines before they even finish intern year as well as develop ample experience in acquisition, interpretation and advanced applications. Between their intense ultrasound rotation upfront, ultrasound workshops during conference, our annual SONOWARS as well as regional and national SONOWARS participation, and 1:1 ultrasound teaching on every shift, you will be beyond proficient in ultrasound by the time you graduate!
On rotation, residents participate in Q&A review as well as didactic sessions, article reviews and submit an interesting case to be presented to the Department of Emergency Medicine. By graduation, residents are expected to have performed 150 exams in core areas defined by ACEP and are required to present documentation of interpretations. Video images will be reviewed by the Ultrasound Director or other ultrasound credentialed faculty members who will give feedback directly to residents.
Medical students interested in Ultrasound, we offer it as an elective at MetHarlem similar to the experience residents receive during their training and you can find out more at our Medical Students Page.
For more information on the ultrasound program, please contact the Ultrasound Director Dr. Sonja Jahaul MD at metharlemsono@gmail.com
Pediatrics
Residents will have the opportunity to experience Pediatric Emergency Medicine as dedicated blocks during their first year at Metropolitan and Harlem Hospitals. Second year residents have their PICU rotation at Westchester Medical Center and third year residents will have their Pediatric ED rotation at WMC. Additionally, pediatric day shifts and overnights are sprinkled throughout the EM schedule. We also have a PEM Scholarly Track for those residents interested in pursuing a fellowship upon graduation to get you to your goal.
Pediatrics at Metropolitan Hospital
As a community hospital, Metropolitan sees pediatric emergency medicine ranging from patients who are mildly sick to those needing resuscitation. The neighborhood relies on this hospital, our staff and in turn the residents to take swift action in the care of their children.
Pediatrics at Harlem Hospital
As a trauma center, Harlem Hospital is also equipped to care for pediatric traumas and is a catch-net hospital for various other pediatric emergencies.
Pediatrics at Westchester Medical Center
As a regional base of tertiary/quaternary medical care, WMC sees pediatric emergencies ranging from low acuity to the most critical level of care.
Community Outreach
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We have a commitment to social responsibility and are proud to have residents and faculty who partake in local community outreach programs. These range from partnering with Harvest Home, a New York City based non-profit farmer's market organization, to working with local clinics to run a food stamp program which provides low-income families with fresh produce in the hopes of improving the health of New York communities. The MetHarlem residency is also involved in pipeline programs at local high school and colleges in collaboration with the medical school to improve admission rates into medicine. Many research and quality improvement initiatives within the residency and our hospital system also focus on community outreach. The more engaged we our with our community the better health outcomes they will have in return and it is a huge focus of not only the program or our hospitals but our hospital system as a whole.