Emergency Medicine is built on a foundation of camaraderie and respect. EMRA and the Penn Department of Emergency Medicine have discussed concerns regarding the reported inclusion of a nurse practitioner in the Penn Ultrasound Fellowship Program. Since 2004, the Penn Department of Emergency Medicine US fellowship has trained dozens of physicians from emergency medicine, family medicine, and internal medicine residencies.
This year, Penn explored a one-year pilot point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training program for NPs/PAs with a certificate upon completion. This program is separate from the Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Advisory Council Accredited (EUFAC) ultrasound fellowship for physicians who have completed a residency. No participants in the program have replaced or would replace a physician ultrasound fellow. The original article reporting an NP's inclusion as a fellow has been corrected to reflect their inclusion in the certificate program.
EMRA and Penn Emergency Medicine stand together with the following beliefs:
- Physician organizations should play an active role in determining the minimum acceptable standards for the education, licensing, and determination of scope of practice of non-physician providers to ensure that patients continue to receive high-quality, high-value, evidence-based patient-centered care in the emergency department.
- The presence of other learners and other health care personnel, including, but not limited to residents from other programs, subspecialty fellows, and PAs/NPs, must not negatively impact the appointed residents’ education.
- PAs and NPs are valued members of the health care team who, under supervision of board-certified/board-eligible emergency physicians, can provide care for patients seen in the emergency department.