Welcome to the UCCOM MS3 Emergency Medicine Clerkship

Thank you for your interest in the Emergency Medicine Clerkship! This is an elective course that is offered several times throughout the academic year for third-year medical students. The course is two weeks in length and comprises 7 clinical shifts in our main Emergency Department at the University of Cincinnati, as well as attendance at weekly Emergency Medicine Grand Rounds as the clinical schedule allows. Whether you are interested in Emergency Medicine as a career, wish to gain experience with undifferentiated patients, or want to gain experience in acute care, this elective offers something for everyone, regardless of your future specialty. 

Logistics

MS3 Grading Form: Please utilize either the new MS3 Grading Form or the QR Code. Both links are on Taming the SRU.

Taming the SRU

Preceptor Evaluation Form: Please complete an evaluation of your preceptor with every shift.

How to write a great EM note. Please also see our good and not so good example write ups on LEO before submitting yours.

How to present a patient in Emergency Medicine

See the 2025-2026 Session Dates Below

Rotation Requirements

Our rotation requirements, for your reference and to plan your time with us, are:
1. Seven clinical shifts
2. Complete two EM-style patient write ups
3. Completing a case-based, oral boards-style exam on the last day of the exam, based on content from the reading
4. Attending weekly Grand Rounds on Wednesday, as work hour rules permit
5. Attend daily morning report, as discussed in orientation, and as work hour rules permit

Before You Start

1. Why consider a career in Emergency Medicine? We recommend this movie. Chapter 11 of the Emergency Medicine Clerkship Primer also summarizes it nicely. This Medscape Medscape article (PDF) article also goes through some of the pros and cons. And of course, feel more than free to discuss this with your preceptors
2. One of the skills we want you to work on during this rotation is the care of lacerations and other wounds requiring sutures in the ED. Before our orientation on the first Monday we expect you to have watched videos #1, 2, 4-7, 10-12. This should take you about twenty minutes. Also read this article before you start.
3. More suturing videos:
   Simple Interrupted (and Common Errors) | Vertical Mattress | Horizontal Mattress | Even More Suturing!
4. Resources to consider before you start: • How to get the most out of this clerkship
   • EMRA Basics of EM Pocket Book (3rd Ed) $$. Good guide to common chief complaints including differential and work up.
   • CDEM Clerkship Primer  Amazing free publication that will make you impress the hell out of your preceptors.
   • Case Files Emergency Medicine (4th Ed) $$, uses memorable vignettes and pearls, worth reading.

Required Reading

NOTE: read all topics with a red asterisk (*) before the rotation starts!

1. Approach to the Undifferentiated Patient
2. Undifferentiated and differentiated patients  *
3. Stabilization of the Acutely Ill Patient
4. Approach to Shock
5. Developing your Plan of Action *
6. Chest pain
7. Abdominal Pain
8. Shortness of breath
9. Altered Mental Status
10. Headache
11. Ischemic stroke
12. Pelvic Pain and Vaginal Bleeding
13. Toxic ingestion
14. Performing a Complaint-Directed History and Physical Examination  *
15. Data-Gathering Skills  *
16. Developing a Case-Specific Differential Diagnosis  *
17. Developing Your Plan of Action  *
18. Common lab studies
19. Diagnostic Testing in the Emergency Department  *
20. Cardiac Arrest
21. Basic wound management
22. Procedural Skills *
23. Acute Pain Control
24. Approach to the trauma patient
25. Documentation of EM Encounters
26. Documentation *
27. Disposition of the Emergency Department Patient *
28. Discharge Instructions *
29. Introduction to the Specialty of Emergency Medicine  *
30. Unique Educational Aspects of Emergency Medicine  *
31. Differences Between the Emergency Department, the Office, and the Inpatient Setting  *
32. Interacting With Consultants and Primary Care Physicians
33. How to Get the Most Out of Your Emergency Medicine Clerkship

During Your Rotation

1. MS3 EM Curriculum: Your new best friend. This page includes links to a wealth of relevant mini-articles about clinical topics as well as how to perform a succinct ED H&P, talking to consultants, and writing excellent discharge instructions. Worth perusing before you start.
2. Clinical Practice Guidelines: Evidence-based algorithms for the evaluation and management of a variety of common ED complaints.
3. How to write a great EM note. Please also see our good and not so good example write ups on LCMS+ before submitting yours.