Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine/Critical Care Medicine Residency

Critical Care has been defined as the delivery of medical care to "any patient who is physiologically unstable, requiring constant and minute-to-minute titration of therapy according to the evolution of the disease process." It is not defined by location but actually spans the continuum of care from the prehospital setting through the ED and into the ICU.

In the United States and worldwide, there has been a steady increase in the number of critically ill patients presenting to the Emergency Department, and these patients are spending longer times in the ED while competing for scarce ICU beds. With the advent of early goal directed therapy, it has become ever more important to manage patients aggressively from the moment of initial contact. There is a growing body of evidence supporting the notion that early, aggressive management of patients with a variety of life-threatening diagnoses leads to sustained mortality benefits. The breadth of skills and experience that EM/IM residents learn during their training sets them up to excel in the care of critically ill patients.

Henry Ford Hospital was the first program to offer a fully integrated, 6-year program allowing for board certification in Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine and Critical Care Medicine (EM/IM/CCM). Trainees in the EM/IM/CCM program rotate through the Medical, Cardiac, Neuro and Surgical Intensive Care Units at Henry Ford Hospital as fellows during their 5th and 6th years. During this time, they develop the skills and knowledge to excel as intensivists while also advancing the teaching and leadership skills they developed during EM/IM training. Once finished, our graduates pursue academic and leadership careers in Critical Care and Emergency Medicine, with some even going on to additional subspecialty fellowships.

The objective of this unique six-year combined training program is to prepare physicians for practice in academic careers addressing the spectrum of illnesses and injuries from emergency department presentation until discharge. Graduates will likely function as academic intensivists or emergency physicians with a strong background in research, teaching and leadership positions.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions.