Global Emergency Medicine Fellowship

Make a global impact -

Expand the reach of your emergency medicine training

Vanderbilt’s Global Emergency Medicine Fellowship trains emergency medicine residency graduates in the challenging and broad field of global EM. We ensure our fellows get extensive and individualized exposure to diverse areas of global health including global EM systems development, delivery of acute care in low resource settings, global EM education, tropical medicine, and global research. 

The fellowship is one to two years in length, based on the individual fellow’s educational goals and personal interests. The program has successfully graduated nine fellows since its inception in 2009.

Educational Curriculum

Formal education is discussed with each fellow applicant, and the educational plan is made in conjunction with the interests and future goals of the fellow. A Master in Public Health, or equivalent degree, is encouraged for two-year fellows. 

Fellows also have the opportunity to take an ASTMH Tropical Medicine and Hygiene course in which the Gorgas course in Peru and the CDC course in Minnesota fit into the fellowship well. If time and budget permit, other courses such as the Health Emergencies in Large Populations or the Basic Emergency Care course are supported. 

Scholarly Project 

Fellows are required to conduct at least one scholarly project with a manuscript of publishable quality during fellowship.

Field Work

Our fellows spend approximately three –to four months abroad per year, working on various projects in resource-limited settings. Vanderbilt EM has a long-standing partnership with Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in Guyana, where fellows spend most of their time abroad. 

Fellows have the opportunity to provide clinical supervision to training EM physicians, provide didactic lectures at weekly conferences, oversee journal club and participate in local projects. Fellows have the opportunity to work with the Guyana National EMS System and Critical Care Nursing program.

Clinical work and teaching responsibilities

Global EM fellows receive a Clinical Fellow Instructor position through the Office of Graduate Medical Education and serve as attending physicians within the Emergency Department, supervising and teaching residents and medical students. Fellows are assigned a limited number of shifts, with flexibility in scheduling to accommodate international duties. 

The Department of Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt has a reputation for providing excellent education for students, residents and community health workers. Fellows are expected to participate in educational endeavors by attending case conferences, presenting interesting cases and providing didactic lectures on global EM topics to our residents and students.

Application Process

Please check back in the spring of 2025 for application and interview information for academic year 2026. Thank you! 

Applicants must be board-certified or board-eligible graduates from an ACGME-accredited emergency medicine residency. If you would like to apply to our program, please apply directly through the SAEM global emergency medicine fellowship application website. 

Application requirements as follows: 

  • Curriculum vitae
  • Letter of interest
  • Three letters of recommendation – one must be from the residency program director
  • Applicants must also register with the National Residency Match Program as fellowship positions will be filled through the NRMP match process

Thank you for your interest in our program! If you have any questions, please email the fellowship director, Dr. Kristen Dettorre.