Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

NYPEM residents primarily staff the NYP-Columbia ED in Washington Heights and the NYP-Cornell ED on the Upper East Side.

All residents primarily work in the "main bays" of the ED, where they will see higher acuity complaints, traumas, and resuscitations. The main bays have various staffing models, but typically involve 2-3 junior residents (EM or off-service rotators), a senior resident, and an attending. PGY4 residents are in a pre-attending role, and will receive presentations from junior residents and oversee the bay.

At Columbia, the PGY3 is a dedicated "resuscitation" resident and staffs the Critical Care Resuscitation area. Junior residents from the main bays help with resuscitation and procedures that come to this area.

In addition to working in the main bays, residents will intermittently have shifts in Cornell Urgent Care and the Columbia Med/Psych bay.

We use Epic at both campuses, with access to dictation, customizable macros and customizable dot phrases.

Cornell is a designated level 1 trauma center. Trauma activations are co-managed by the ED and trauma surgery teams. The EM senior and surgery senior alternate "leading" the trauma based on even/odd days. The formal trauma airway policy is to alternate with anesthesiology between even/odd days. In practice, the airway is typically managed by the EM resident.

Columbia is not a level 1 trauma center, but receives a fair number of "walk-in" traumas. The EM team primarily manages any traumatic injuries at CUMC with the surgical team available as a consult service. Since it’s a level 2 center, trauma surgery is not in the same building and will not reach the trauma room until the resuscitation is well underway.

Our program offers robust exposure to critical care Emergency Medicine, and our patient population has remarkably complex physiology. Both our hospitals are ECMO-capable centers.

In the Emergency Department, our junior residents are core components of the resuscitation team from day 1, and interns get first dibs on procedures. Our PGY3 residents are the dedicated "resus" resident and staff the critical care area of the Columbia ED. By the end of our third year, our PGY3 residents are very comfortable with the management of incredibly sick patients-- whether it's bread-and-butter septic shock and OHCA to crashing LVAD patients.

Outside of the ED, our residents rotate through the medical, surgical, burn, pediatric, and neurologic ICUs. Our ICU colleagues are leaders in their fields, and the educational experience is unparalleled.

In addition, we have several faculty members and many alumni who are double boarded in Emergency Medicine and Critical Care.

NYP hosts a large and very active Ultrasound Division consisting of faculty with dedicated fellowship training in EM Ultrasound who are very invested in resident education. Ultrasound is a core component of EM training and we believe residents should become facile with POCUS and US-guided procedures early in their training. During intern orientation, PGY1s participate in "Ultrasound Bootcamp"--with 2 days of dedicated training in ultrasound basics. There is a one-month Ultrasound rotation in the first year with US faculty-directed scanning shifts. If desired, residents have the opportunity to pursue advanced ultrasound training during their PGY2 Selective block or PGY3/PGY4 Elective. Both of our hospitals have new state-of-the-art ultrasound equipment, and Cornell is equipped to perform TEE-guided resuscitation.

We work very closely with our consulting services, and have admitting privileges at both campuses. Communication with both is very collegial, and you’ll find yourself making friends with people from other services as you each rotate through the hospital. Additionally, we benefit from excellent education from our consultants as some of them are the world experts in various disease pathologies and treatments.

We have a great relationship with our nursing colleagues, and become very close with them over the years. Both hospital sites are ANCC-designated Magnet centers.

In the workplace, we have well-delineated roles, and residents typically do not perform tasks such as IV placement (unless ultrasound guidance is needed) or patient transport, except in scenarios where it is immediately necessary for patient care.

We also have good relationships with our APP colleagues. Occasionally APPs will work in the main bays with residents to supplement staffing and to cover while residents have protected time for EM Conference, but primarily work in the mid-acuity bay or urgent care directly with an attending.