Residency

Welcome!

Thank you for your interest in the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC).

A national leader in education and clinical excellence, the Department of Emergency Medicine is  on a mission to train future leaders in emergency care. Residency program graduates will be well prepared as patient-centered leaders, equipped with the skills necessary to balance career, life and wellness. 

Since 1992, the VUMC Emergency Medicine Residency Program has been serving the complex needs of the region, at one of the highest acuity emergency departments (ED) in the country. Our vision is to leverage this unique setting to train resident physicians to deliver timely, safe, effective and personalized care to any patient, anytime, anywhere. 

The department is a national leader in emergency care research and enrolls thousands of patients per year in multiple high-quality, multi-center studies. VUMC includes a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, comprehensive stroke center, the only national Level I trauma center, Level I pediatric trauma center, and comprehensive burn center in Middle Tennessee.

Clinical Education

The focal point of residency training will be the VUMC ED. Located blocks from downtown Nashville, the Adult ED sees over 70,000 visits per year with a 38% admission rate. The acuity is high, and the orientation month will prepare you for this challenging clinical experience with high-quality didactics, simulation sessions, bootcamps, and buddy shifts. 

From day one, EM residents will see incredibly complex and often critically ill patients. Residents will quickly learn to rapidly assess and stabilize a wide variety of patients including the many thousands of LifeFlight transports which arrive at VUMC each year. 

Residents’ trauma experience will be second to none. As a major receiving center for critically injured patients, the VUMC Adult ED sees more than 8,000 trauma activations per year, many of which require immediate life-saving intervention.

Didactic Education

The Emergency Medicine residency curriculum is specially designed around the science of adult learning and includes high-yield short lectures, flipped classroom case-based learning, a novel life and career skills curriculum called “Evolution MD,” inter-departmental learning, and our famous airway/cadaver lab taught by top procedural experts. 

Residents will spend over 100 hours with simulation and procedure faculty and will log hundreds of ED ultrasounds under the careful supervision of the ultrasound division.

Resident Life

Residents will have the opportunity to live and work in Nashville, which is consistently ranked one of the fastest growing and most exciting metro areas in the country. In addition to its famous designation as “Music City,” Nashville is a booming city with something for everyone ranging from professional and minor league sports to live music and entertainment venues, outdoor activities, and some of the most exciting cuisine in the Southeast. 

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Application Process

Vanderbilt Emergency Medicine Residency is making every effort to follow the recommendations of the CORD Application Process Improvement Committee that can be found online. 

In that spirit, please review the following information about our recruitment season. 

  • Our residency utilizes holistic application review
  • We are continually seeking guidance and education from local and national leaders and organizations on how to conduct recruitment
  • We will be participating in preference signaling
  • All interviews will be virtual, even for local applicants
  • There will be no use of “hybrid” interviews

When it comes to resident recruitment, we are looking for the future leaders of emergency medicine inspired by our vision to deliver timely, safe, effective and personalized care to any patient, any time, anywhere. VUMC is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity. EOE/Vets/Disabled. 

We are excited to review your application for our residency program. In keeping with best practice recommendations, this year we will be conducting virtual interviews and special e-recruitment events. Please submit your application through ERAS with appropriate letters of recommendation (at least one SLOE is required).

We are excited to have you learning about us, and are excited to meet you! If we can provide additional information about Vanderbilt Emergency Medicine, or answer questions you might have, please email our program coordinator, Tammy Tankersley. 

Frequently Asked Questions about the Application Process

Our program takes a very holistic approach to review applications. We do not have a minimum required score.

Yes, we do. Applicants should be certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates at the time of application.

Yes, we can sponsor both H1 and J1 visas.

No, we do not.

No, you can always update your application. It is advised that you contact the program manager regarding any updates made to your application so the information can be shared with our application review committee.

We welcome applications and signals from DO students. While we have never trained an osteopath, we have interviewed DOs and ranked them competitively for several years. We would encourage osteopathic students interested in training at VUMC to apply and consider signaling us if this is consistent with their own professional goals.