Medical Student Education
Fourth Year Electives - Emergency Medicine
JI Emergency Medicine - EME 40105
The Junior Internship in Emergency Medicine offers medical students in the Emergency Department exposure to essential diagnostic, therapeutic, and procedural skills necessary for handling acute illnesses and injuries. To fulfill the Junior Internship in Emergency Medicine, students must complete four weeks in the ED at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. At the end of this rotation, students will gain the knowledge and appreciation of resuscitation, acute bedside care in unstable patients, and the diagnostic workflow of undifferentiated patients. Students will operate as a primary healthcare clinician, participating comprehensively in emergency care, including performing essential procedures. Throughout the patient's initial presentation, diagnosis, and treatment planning stages, students are expected to enhance their clinical skills and confidence. Supervision will be provided by the Emergency Department attending physician, ensuring continuous feedback, teaching, and support for all patient cases. The student will have access to all lectures, handouts, and required reading. Attendance at all lectures and Emergency Medicine resident conference is required. Additional assignments may be added at the discretion of the clerkship director as educational opportunities become available.
Why this rotation?
Whether you are interested in pursuing a career in emergency medicine, still weighing your options, or simply want to experience life in the ED for the month, Emergency Medicine has something for everyone. Emergencies occur in all specialties and in life (e.g., "Is there a doctor on the plane?"). Emergency Medicine is the field best-suited to handle the common emergencies that you are likely to encounter in your residency or even in life outside of work, especially in resource-poor settings.
More about our ED
The University of Tennessee Medical Center Emergency Department has Level I designation for adult and pediatric trauma. We are also an accredited chest pain and stroke center. Our Emergency Department sees a volume of approximately 80,000 patients annually.
We are privileged to treat our local community and function as a safety net hospital, providing quality emergency care to all patients regardless of socioeconomic status. We treat complicated cancer, burn, trauma and neurologic patients experiencing a variety of emergency conditions. It is an honor and privilege to serve our patient population, many of whom are underserved and rely on our system as their sole access to healthcare.
Our department is staffed by board-certified Emergency Medicine (EM) physicians. Our team has the privilege of caring for patients and their loved ones during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. An EM physician simultaneously serves as a resuscitation expert, detective, and team captain. The breadth of skills and knowledge required to bring "order to chaos" in the uncertainty of the emergency department daily is what sets our specialty apart and makes us uniquely qualified to handle any emergency that arrives at our door.
Although our department does not currently offer an EM residency, our physicians are highly driven and practiced in providing educational experience for students, residents, and fellows. Our department offers an EM fellowship for residents who have graduated from an accredited Family Medicine residency. Additionally, each month, residents from the UTHSC COM-Knoxville training programs including Anesthesia, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and OB/GYN rotate through our department as part of their required training. We also provide educational rotations for medical and physician assistant students. Our faculty are involved in research and host didactic and simulation lab sessions weekly. We are excited to continue investing in our trainees to both teach and provide top notch emergency care.
Duration: 4 weeks
Prior Authorization: Yes
Course Director: Blake Briggs, MD
Contact: Jody Huffaker