Richard J. Hamilton, M.D.
Chair of Emergency Medicine
richard.hamilton@drexelmed.edu
215-762-2527

Letter from the Chair

Thank you for visiting our website!

The 1993 consolidation of Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University brought together two renowned tertiary-care hospitals as part of an innovative new healthcare system, now called Drexel University College of Medicine (DUCOM).

The Department of Emergency Medicine serves to implement that interest by providing clinical emergency services at Hahnemann University Hospital, Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Philadelphia and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children campuses. At each location, EM residency trained specialists are always available on site. As the largest and oldest training program in Emergency Medicine in the Philadelphia area, we treat over 150,000 emergency encounters annually, encompassing all ages and types of acute problems. We have Fellowships in Ultrasound and Medical Toxicology, as well as co-sponsor the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.

DUCOM has a long history of commitment to quality graduate training in the specialty of emergency medicine, from the first 3-year residency in Emergency Medicine at Medical College of Pennsylvania to the first Level I Trauma Center in Pennsylvania at Hahnemann University Hospital. Through the years the faculty has developed several philosophical principles for graduate education that are emphasized in our residency training efforts.

First, we believe that emergency medicine is best learned in the clinical arenas provided through active emergency centers and critical-care units. Consequently, the vast majority of your clinical training will occur in such an environment. Relatively few traditional ward rotations are incorporated in the required rotations.

Second, we feel that emergency medicine is best taught by emergency physicians and that clinical and academic practitioners of the specialty bear the brunt of responsibility for the education of the emergency physician. Therefore, while input and guidance are both sought and welcomed from traditional specialists, your training will come predominantly from departmental faculty, and the vast majority of all rotations will occur on emergency center and critical care services that are supervised by faculty of the Department of Emergency Medicine.

Finally, while each of the three years is a graduated growth experience in the discipline, special emphasis is placed on the EM1 year to provide the new graduate trainee with an environment in which his or her identity as an emergency physician is well formed. All EM residents are closely aligned throughout the year with colleagues in emergency medicine, and not primarily "farmed out" to other specialty services.

We are proud of our EM Residency and our Fellowships in Ultrasound, Medical Toxicology, and PEM. Our faculty members encourage and incorporate trainee input into our curriculum, and welcome your interest and critical review of our graduate training activities in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine.