Learning Resource: The Flipped EM Classroom

Many educators feel that the future of didactic instruction is the "flipped classroom" model.  Students review materials at home before coming to class, sometimes watching on-line lectures/videos.  In the classroom they do their "homework", working through problems and concepts while the teacher(s) circulate and help the learners.  Many Emergency Medicine Residency Programs are adopting, or at least experimenting, with these concepts.

One benefit to all is that a lot of on-line resources are being produced.  A great example is that work of The Flipped EM Classroom.   The foundation for the content covered is the Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine (CDEM) Curriculum for medical students, so it makes a strong foundation of knowledge.  Think of this like a souped-up, FOAMed, multi-media version of the "First Aid for the EM Clerkship"-type books.

There are small, easily-digested, modules on "Approach to..." a variety of common ED complaints like:  Abdominal Pain, Poisoning, Trauma, etc.

There are also Disease Specific reviews grouped by organ system.  For example, in the Cardiovascular group there are Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, Acute Heart Failure, Pulmonary Embolism, and more.

For third years soon to start EM rotations: this is the knowledge base and approach that your supervisors are going to be looking for.  Get a jump on understanding this information from an EM perspective.

For fourth years going into EM.  Your program is going to be expecting you to have this foundation of knowledge when you show up.  If you don't, you will get feedback like, "knowledge base is behind that of peers".  Any you don't want that.

Enjoy!

The big DO decision

We just added a guide for the osteopathic student interested in training in an allopathic EM residency.  The advice is a little late for anyone applying on this application cycle.  However, there is a dilemma facing many of the DO students who have interviews at both allopathic and osteopathic residencies.  What do you do about the DO match?

EM is competitive, very competitive.  Goal number one is to match into a training spot, even if it is not the perfect location.  You need to make rationale decisions based on what is going to give you the best chance to match.  That being said, you can predict whether you have drawn enough interest from the allopathic programs to safely withdraw from the osteopathic match in January.

Most students are going to fall into one of three groups.  For two of these, the decision is easy:

1. Has only 1 or 2 allopathic interviews.  If you find yourself in this group, you should stay in the osteopathic match.  The chances of being left without a spot are too great.
2. Has 10 or more allopathic interviews.  This group can withdraw from the osteopathic match, if their top programs are allopathic.  These programs are going to rank you on their list.  The odds are excellent (>95%) that if you rank 8 or more programs, one of them is going to rank you high enough that you match there.  
3. Has 3 - 9 allopathic interviews.  This group has the toughest decisions to make.  You are going to have to decide on whether to gamble on the allopathic match.  The safe play is to rank several DO programs and stay in that match, moving only to the allopathic match if you do not get one of those.  If you have greater risk tolerance, you can take a chance and withdraw from the DO match.  All it takes is one program ranking you high enough to match there.  There is no one size fits all answer.  The best way to figure out what is right for you is to look at your individual situation with a trusted advisor.