Inclusion, Innovation, and Career Development

Stanford’s emergency medicine residency program innovations ensure inclusion and in-depth career development for residents. 

Holistic Residency Recruitment 

Stanford was one of the first emergency medicine residency programs to blind U.S. Medical Licensing Examination scores in reviewing candidates, as studies indicate scores reflect a racial bias. For several years, Stanford Emergency Medicine has redacted candidate pictures for the initial candidate screening. The program recently added a second review of Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) students by the DEI Residency Recruitment Taskforce. These efforts helped increase UiM representation in the intern class to nearly 25%. 

Advanced Clinical and Career Enrichment Line (ACCEL) Program

Beginning in their intern year, emergency medicine residents are provided significant time to explore subspecialties of emergency medicine through more than 75 electives in three lines:

• Emergency Medicine Without Walls (EM WOW)

• Medical Education

• Advanced In-Hospital Medical Care and Clinical Operations

Residents attend discussions, participate in projects, and are provided longitudinal mentorship with faculty leaders in specific tracks within each line.

The program is designed to continuously evolve and last year a Sports Medicine Track was created based on resident input. Additionally, two new electives were added for emergency department pharmacology and the opportunity to practice medicine with the Indian Health Services. 

Team Challenge Days 

Team Challenge days provide hands-on, focused skills training once a month for residents. In 2021, several training sessions focused on safe intubation practices for patients with known or suspected COVID-19 and all interns underwent mastery learning for intubation during orientation. As a result, Stanford emergency medicine residents maintained their ability to perform all intubations in the emergency department during the pandemic. And emergency medicine residents, in partnership with Internal Medicine residents, comprised an integral part of ICU staffing during a six-month COVID-19 surge. 

Alpha Chief

The Alpha Chief role provides residents with the chance to oversee up to 29 beds, attend all codes and traumas, balance ambulance- and walk-in patients, and manage the entire flow of the high-acuity section in what could be considered a junior faculty role. In addition to allowing greater responsibility and autonomy for fourth-year residents, the structure frees attendings to have more time to teach, oversee procedures, and work one-on-one with interns or medical students.