The World of Emergency Medicine: High-Yield Websites For Future Physicians

Derick Goff, MS-2, New York Medical College
EMRA MSC Northeast Representative 1

For medical students pursuing a career in Emergency Medicine, there is no shortage of high-quality online resources to help prepare for clerkships, residency applications, and eventually, patient care. The Emergency Medicine community provides a rich array of networks, online libraries, and podcasts. But it can be difficult to know what each website can offer. In last month’s newsletter, my colleague offers an excellent compendium of clinically-oriented resources for your questions on shift, linked here. If you're gearing up for rotations or planning an away rotation, I highly recommend checking it out. This article serves as a guide to websites ideal for medical students exploring Emergency Medicine and seeking community engagement.

Emergency Medicine Residency Association (EMRA)

EMRA Medical Student Homepage

Advising resources, including a pdf of the newest edition of the “EMRA and CORD Student Advising Guide: An Evidence-Based Approach to Matching in EM”

EMRA represents over 90% of U.S. emergency medicine residents, but did you know they also provide advice and opportunities to medical students? The EMRA webpage is host to a wide range of resources including podcasts, journals, quick review sheets, advising guides and more! And don’t underestimate the articles found in the medical student newsletter. These pages offer insights and advice from fellow medical students who understand firsthand the experiences you're encountering or have encountered in your journey! Read their advice and check out those articles here.

Membership for medical students is $70 a year and comes with scores of benefits, like the New Member Kit with pocket resources, guides, and discounts. As a member, you’ll have the option to be paired with a physician mentor, apply for the Medical Student Council, and contribute to the Medical Student Newsletter! You’ll also have the opportunity to attend Medical Student Day at ACEP 2024. Check it out!

There’s so much to offer here, so take the time to explore and discover more about EM and get involved!

Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine (CDEM), Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM)

CDEM M3 Curriculum

CDEM M4 Curriculum

Description:

You might find this gem hidden amongst various links to ER algorithms and academic resources. Like EMRA, SAEM encompasses more than I could hope to fit in this section. SAEM hosts a number of podcasts, research grants, and other resources on their website. SAEM offers membership to medical students for $25/year and encourages medical students to get involved in various leadership opportunities!

What I like about this particular resource is that it doesn’t just give algorithms to follow, but rather explains the clinical rationale behind decision-making in the ER. The curriculum has sections for subject areas like communication, vital signs and Developing Your Plan of Action, in addition to thoughtful articles about how to approach specific chief complaints. Let’s take a look at the CDEM’s description of the M3 curriculum available on their website.

“The M3 curriculum came out of a need to provide a framework for a consistent experience for students rotating through Emergency Medicine during their third year. The focus of this curriculum is the exposure of the student to core EM concepts. This material is meant to both supplement and be independent of the M4 curriculum, with certain topics geared towards the M3 student.

The curriculum is divided into the MUST-SHOULD-CAN framework, with the goal of covering the MUST content as core clerkship material, regardless of type of student experience. The SHOULD and CAN material can be covered based on the resources and time available for each clerkship.”

Consider utilizing this resource as a supplement for how to approach emergency chief complaints. SAEM offers so much to any budding EM physician.

EM Clerkship

Home page

EM Clerkship is one of my personal favorite podcasts. In each episode they discuss a case in the format of the  American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) oral boards. These episodes offer insights into the clinical reasoning of EM physicians as they navigate cases involving trauma, severe illnesses, and occasionally, seemingly innocuous symptoms. Other episodes offer valuable advice for navigating the residency application process successfully. Check out EM Clerkship wherever you get your podcasts.

The website also has great resources, with overviews of Emergency Medicine curricula, a complete section on “How to Crush Your SLOEs” (Standardized Letters of Evaluation), and a Guide for Applying to EM Residency. This is an awesome and entertaining resource for getting your feet wet before stepping into the hospital, and it certainly keeps you on your toes in terms of forming a differential diagnosis for the cases presented. Kudos to the hosts: Dr. Zack Olson, Dr. Michael Estephan, and Dr. Maddy Watts.

Life In The Fastlane (LITFL)

Library

EKG Cases

While this website is rife with info on everything from airway management to neuro cases to AI in health, one of the main pulls is the Top 100 series and ECG cases. There are plenty of ECG quizzes on the internet, but LITFL seems to have it all. It not only provides ECG examples and quizzes, it explains them. If you’re exploring the range of what EM has to offer, or if you’re sharpening up your ECG, CT, or XRay skills, this resource comes highly recommended.

Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALIEM)

Homepage

ALIEM is a website for medical students looking to explore a future in Emergency Medicine. This resource has several striking features. On the landing page you will see a biweekly case series with images and clinical pearls to learn from. One of the things that’s great about ALIEM is that there are several ways to learn and earn continuing medical education credits through the website. This includes ALIEM-U a peer-reviewed online education resource with instruction on best practices and an Approved Instructional Resources series.

By navigating to the EM Bound and EM Match Advice Series, medical students will find insightful discussions and articles that are pertinent to applying into EM. Residency Program Directors provide their perspectives on recent turmoil in the EM Match and what it means for them and students applying into EM.

It’s easy to find valuable resources to guide you at any stage of your medical education… as long as you know where to look! This overview only covers a fraction of what’s out there. The websites referenced here are enriched by the contributions of EM physicians, residents, and students who were once in the same position as you. By delving into the resources provided here, you'll uncover avenues for learning, engagement, and professional development. Thanks for reading and feel free to reach out to me at derickgoff.emra@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns, or just want to chat!