Fellow

For emergency medicine (EM) graduates who want to pursue a career managing emergency department observation units (EDOU), a one-year observation medicine (OM) fellowship is an option that will provide the administrative and leadership skills necessary. The fellow often functions as an assistant EDOU director, working under the direct guidance of the medical director. They lead an interdisciplinary team to achieve length of stay targets via expedited patient care. The OU team encompasses case managers, advanced practice providers (APPs), nurses, social workers, physicians, and consultants. The fellow will participate in performance improvement activities specific to OU operations. The observation fellowship will focus on developing new evidence-based pathways that expand the scope of the unit and improve efficient throughput.

Clinical Operations

Emergency department (ED) and EDOU clinical operations leadership teams will provide mentorship to the fellow. The fellowship will include training and experience in project management and health analytics pertaining to observation and ED care. Fellows will gain the knowledge and experience necessary to create a business proposal for the development and scaling of observational services, and create sustainable unit staffing models that optimize resource utilization.

Education and Training

The fellow shall work clinically in the OU as well as the ED. At the conclusion of training, the fellow will be a content expert in all aspects of observation care. This role requires building successful relationships with other departments across the institution. The OM fellow will attend national training conferences in OM as well as participate and present at monthly fellowship didactic sessions. The fellow will play a central role in educating residents, APPs, faculty, and staff on clinical pathways, patient selection, performance improvement, and clinical issues relevant to OM.

Elective Time

The fellow will be encouraged to develop a unique niche within OM. This may include research, transitions of care from an observation setting, health policy, or telehealth. The fellow will be paired with an appropriate mentor during this elective time.

Professional Development

The fellow will be required to participate in a research project pertaining to OM. They may also be sponsored by the department to attend an OM conference or academic meeting to present their research and participate in OM interest groups.