Fellowship in Emergency Department Administration

Overview

Fellows will develop expertise in care delivery processes, fiscal management, relations with other hospital departments, health policy as it relates to emergency care delivery, personnel management, and quality and safety initiatives both at department and hospital levels. Much of the activity will involve participating in inter-professional, multidisciplinary teams.

Requirements

Applicants must be graduates of an ACGME-accredited emergency medicine residency program and have completed the program in good standing. A letter of interest, three letters of recommendation, including a letter from the residency program director, and a current curriculum vitae should be prepared for submission. Interviews are conducted in the fall. Decisions are usually made in November.

Our Emergency Department Administration Research Fellowship is a parallel program designed for emergency physicians from outside the United States to learn about emergency department administration. Interested applicants should contact Dr. Paul Chen (pchen@bwh.harvard.edu) and/or Dr. Joshua Baugh (jbaugh@partners.org).

Curriculum

The goal of the fellowship is to develop physician experts who will become departmental, institutional, and national leaders in emergency care delivery through a combination clinical practice, analytic skills, research and education.

Fellowship activities will train physicians for successful careers dedicated to furthering access to high-quality emergency care by learning to manage an ED that is fiscally-sound, provides efficient and high-quality care, and has a high level of patient engagement. The need for well-trained physician administrators has never been greater as ED visits in the U.S. are rising by about 7% per year. In keeping with this need, the proposed program has four overarching objectives for its trainees:

1. Obtain fundamental knowledge of ED administration with particular attention to the role of the ED in the hospital and health care system as a whole
2. Gain understanding of health policy as it relates to emergency care
3. Develop leadership skills necessary to move an ED to the highest levels of efficiency
4. Form a foundation for conducting research on the provision of emergency services

The fellowship begins July and lasts two years. A one-year fellowship is available for applicants who already have an advanced business or management degree (e.g., MBA). These candidates would enroll in the Clinical Effectiveness Course at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) as it is unlikely that their management degree included courses (such as Epidemiology) that are necessities in the medical arena.

Fellows divide their time among clinical care delivery, research, project management and classes at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Beyond core curriculum, activities can be tailored to the fellow’s specific professional interests within the realm of ED administration.

The didactic portion of the fellowship is a common core, rotating curriculum shared across all clinical sites (Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals). The experiential portion is site-specific, with myriad opportunities for collaboration both within and beyond the ED. 

The fellowship includes clinical care and administrative tasks that may take place in a variety of settings including academic departments, community hospital emergency departments and in an urgent care clinic. Concurrent with their fellowship activities fellows (without a prior management degree) pursue their Master in Health Care Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Additional degree options (i.e., MPH) may be available should a fellow’s interest be predominantly in the role of the ED in population health.

Fellows will also have the opportunity to participate in national and international ED administration courses.

Clinical Experience

As all fellows will have completed a residency in Emergency Medicine and be either Board-Eligible or Board-Certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine before starting the fellowship, they will meet the institutional criteria for appointment as Attending Physicians and will deliver care in that role. Clinical care will occur in the Mass General ED. This clinical work embeds the fellow into the operation of the EDs and provides multiple occasions to examine and assess the quality and efficiency of the care delivered.

How to Apply

Send a letter of interest, a current CV, and three letters of recommendation (including a letter from the residency program director) to Dr. Paul Chen (pchen@bwh.harvard.edu) and/or Dr. Joshua Baugh (jbaugh@partners.org).