Clinical Component

Navigating the Clinical Component

The Emergency Department at Regional One Health treats one of the highest-acuity patient populations in the Mid-South. As a safety-net hospital and the region's Level I trauma center, Regional One receives patients with penetrating trauma, critical illness, and complex medical conditions that other hospitals transfer or cannot manage.

Your clinical time is split between two ED environments with different pace, staffing, and patient mix. Faculty and leadership consistently describe the pathology and acuity here as the defining strength of the practice.

Clinical Snapshot

Coverage Model: Shift-based, 12 twelve-hour shifts per month

ED Environments: CCA/Trauma and Jefferson/Medicine

Typical Split: Close to half and half, varying month to month

Trauma Volume: Approximately 13,000 trauma encounters last year

Residents: One EM resident on days and one on nights

EMR: Cerner Millennium

Two ED Environments

CCA / Trauma Jefferson / Medicine
Clinical focus High-acuity trauma and critical care General medical emergency care
Physician role Attending with one EM resident Direct patient management
Team support Trauma surgery team APPs integrated into daily care
APP coverage Limited; mainly Thursday mornings during resident conference Primary APP staffing location

CCA / Trauma

Full-time faculty are scheduled here first because of resident teaching and trauma responsibilities. You will work alongside a trauma surgery team with a large, consistent presence in the department.

Jefferson / Medicine

Jefferson operates more like a community ED. You will see and manage patients directly, working closely with APPs rather than supervising a resident team.

Patient Population

  • Underserved and medically complex adult patients
  • Penetrating and blunt trauma
  • Critical illness and complex medical pathology
  • Incarcerated patients, seen in a secure clinical setting with law enforcement present

Trauma and Airway Responsibilities

Emergency Medicine and trauma surgery share trauma care based on activation level.

  • Highest-level trauma activations: Trauma surgery leads, and anesthesia manages the airway
  • Level II and III trauma activations: EM manages resuscitation, and these make up a large share of trauma volume
  • Non-trauma airways: Managed by EM

Clinical Support and Equipment

  • Trauma surgery team available for trauma care
  • Anesthesia support for the highest-level trauma airways
  • APP support concentrated on the Jefferson side
  • Airway and ultrasound equipment replacement identified as department priorities, with capital replacement efforts underway

Operations Today and Ahead

Today, CCA and Jefferson run as separate departments with different workflows and separate nursing leadership. Department leadership is working on throughput and process improvements on the Jefferson side.

Regional One's planned new hospital is designed to bring both environments together, with:

  • One combined Emergency Department
  • Unified nursing leadership
  • A shared resuscitation area

Teaching Responsibilities

Regional One is an attending-run ED with close, one-on-one resident teaching. You will not supervise a large resident team, but you will work directly with the resident on shift.

  • Work with EM residents during CCA shifts
  • Participate in resident lectures and journal clubs
  • No publication requirement

UTHSC EM Residency

Residents
PGY-1 8
PGY-2 8
PGY-3 7
Total 23

Residents rotate through Regional One Health, Baptist, Methodist, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, and a resource-limited rotation at Baptist Arlington.

Opportunities for Focused Practice

Physicians with a specific interest can build a defined role based on department needs. Areas identified by leadership include:

  • Disaster medicine, with two disaster-trained physicians on the current team
  • Ultrasound
  • Simulation
  • Informatics, a stated organizational need as the new hospital is planned
  • Medical education
  • ED operations and administration

Protected time and stipends for defined roles are set based on the role.

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