1. Summary
The VGH Emergency Clinic was expanded into the VGH Department of Emergency Medicine in January of 1989. This department is staffed by a Department Head, a Head of Emergency Treatments, Head of Trauma Treatments, ten Attending Physicians and 19 Residents. The Emergency Department is an important portal to the VGH, and treats a large number of patients with wide ranging spectrum of symptom complexity and seriousness. We can offer an excellent learning and instructional environment for this very reason. We hope to give you a better picture of your residency through this manual, and wish that you find ever greater fulfillment in your medical career.

2. Checking-in and Shift Rotations
The resident scheduled to report to duty in the current month must have attended an orientation and training workshop in the prior month. The exact date would be available on the Department’s internal BBS forum.

3. Training Outline
Residents on rotation to this Department will learn the following:
1. Concepts and Procedures
a. Non-trauma section
i. Internal Medicine emergency treatment
ii. Environmental emergencies, toxic or drug overdose treatments
iii. BLS procedures
iv. ACLS workflow
v. Pre-hospital care and first aid
vi. Diagnosis
1. With the guidance of a mentoring doctor, gain hands on experience with patient interview and draft a case history
2. Gain skills relating to active listening, patient history, and diagnosis
b. Trauma section
Learn the principles of wound treatment and the best practices regarding trauma diagnosis and treatment.

Understand the principle of patient prioritization.

Learn how to ask the right questions to get to the right diagnosis.

Gain experience with conducting physical examinations.

Become proficient at using case history and physical examinations to arrive at a preliminary diagnosis.

Under the guidance of an experienced mentor, learn how to dress wounds, prepare for an operation, and setup a follow-up system.

4. Training Activities
I. Bedside Training
Conducted by the ranking doctor on shift, who will focus on the application of medical knowledge in clinical situations, through real-life examples.
II. Attending Physician Training
There will be at least 11 sessions of Attending Physician Training per month, lasting 60-90 minutes per session. Topics covered include:
1. Shock
2. The Emergent Management of Cardiac Arrhythmia
3. Wound Care & Management
4. Abdominal Trauma

Emergency Medicine
1. Program Goal:
In order to deepen the understanding of emergency medicine among our medical students, we have instituted 4 credits of emergency medicine for 5th Year students, taught by experienced doctors at all levels of practice.

The course will feature in-depth lectures and hands-on operations.

Topics will include: Internal Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology, Pediatrics, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Psychiatry.

Supplemental topics include: legal considerations, emergency intensive care, pre-hospital first aid specific to emergency medicine, disaster medicine, toxicology, and environmental medicine.
We hope that these courses will help our students to gain a deeper level of medical expertise that will help them throughout their emergency medicine careers.

2. Instructional Method:
a. Mainly conducted in a lecture format
b. Supplemented with props and scale models like BLS, respiratory struts, plaster bandages, and “Mr. Hurt” simulations

3. Reference Textbooks:
a. Emergency Medicine : A Comprehensive study guide, 8th edition, Juidith E. Eintinalli, Gabor D. Kelen, J. Stephan Stapczynski, 2016.