The department of Emergency Medicine at University of Iowa is pleased to offer an 18-month postgraduate Physician Assistant Residency Program. This program is one of the few Emergency Medicine PA residencies offered in the Midwest and is linked to the only Emergency Medicine physician residency program in Iowa. As a PA resident, you will have the opportunity to specialize in the field of Emergency Medicine while working alongside with physician residents and seasoned clinicians at one of the top medical centers in the country.

Class size is limited to three qualified PA residents.

The University of Iowa’s Department of Emergency Medicine is dedicated to improving the delivery of emergency care for the state of Iowa. To further support this effort, our goal is to graduate fully credentialed EM-PA residents with core competencies and skills sets allowing them to successfully practice in any emergency, acute care, or intensive care setting, including solo coverage of a critical access hospital emergency department with remote physician back-up.

Accreditation:
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) is the organization that accredits clinical postgraduate PA programs. The Iowa EM-PA residency program has begun the application process for accreditation, and anticipates the approval of full accreditation.

The Iowa EM-PA residency curriculum is modeled after the physician residency curriculum.  As a PA resident, you will rotate through core clinical services that will help prepare you to manage the most critical and complicated patients.  These rotations will include clinical time with services in trauma, internal medicine, surgical ICU, orthopedics, and the burn unit.  Additionally, you will be able to tailor your educational experience towards your own interests by helping to develop selective rotations.

Approximately two-thirds of the rotations are devoted to Emergency Medicine and Pediatric Emergency Medicine, providing you with the extensive experience necessary for successful placement after graduation.    You will begin your residency experience in an Introductory Emergency Medicine month that will help ease you into the department, connect you with classmates and physician residents, equip you with essential knowledge and skills to begin working in the Emergency Treatment Center (ETC) and social events including an Outdoor Wilderness Medicine race.

• Academic
• Anesthesiology
• Cardiology
• EMS
• Neurology
• Neurosurgery
• OB/GYN
• Opthalmology
• Radiology

Didactic Experience:
Five hours of didactic conferences are held every Thursday morning with the EM-PA and physician residents.  Not only do the two groups work clinically together, but they learn together as well.  All residents are released from clinical duties and given this protected time for their education.  Conferences are focused around monthly topics presented by emergency medicine staff, other University of Iowa Health Care specialists and distinguished visiting faculty.  Dynamic, interactive learning between residents and faculty is a key component to conference.  Case-based presentations, simulation lab, small groups, journal club, procedural workshops, Code Red drills are examples of learning modes that help engage our learners and promote ‘real’ learning situations.

Current monthly conference schedules