Medical Students Overview

ECU Health Medical Center ( Formerly Pitt County Memorial Hospital) is the teaching facility for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and serves as the primary training site for a well-established Residency in Emergency Medicine. The residency was established in 1982 and includes 12 categorical EM positions as well as 2 combined Emergency Medicine Internal Medicine positions per year. ECU Health Medical Center is a tertiary care facility with over 800 beds. It is the only Level I trauma center east of I-95 in North Carolina. It is the primary referral center for 29 counties in eastern North Carolina. The Emergency Department at ECU Health Medical Center has greater than 120,000 patient visits annually and is growing rapidly. To meet this demand a new state of the art department, with 58,000 square feet and 58 beds, was opened in 2005 and separate 16-bed Pediatric Emergency Department opened in July 2012.

The emergency medicine residency, an accredited three-year program has a total of thirty-six resident physicians and the combined emergency medicine/internal medicine residency, an accredited five-year program, has a total of 10 resident physicians. In accordance with the mission of the Medical School, the residents, faculty, and staff are dedicated to providing health care for the medically underserved areas of Eastern North Carolina.

While serving a rural population, Greenville, N.C., is the thriving educational, health, and entertainment hub of the Tidewater and Coastal Plain. The Greenville Metro Area is home to over 183,000 people and VMC is one of the largest hospitals in North Carolina. In January 2008, Greenville was named one of the nation’s “100 Best Communities for Young People” by the America’s Promise Alliance. In March 2008, Greenville was ranked in the top ten of the nation’s “Best Places for Business and Careers” by Forbes Magazine. In 2004, Greenville was named Sports Town USA for the state of North Carolina by Sports Illustrated and the National Parks & Recreation Association.

The patients presenting to the ED provide many challenges. Included are those associated with a high prevalence of coronary artery and cerebrovascular disease. The frequently encountered conditions of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and obesity are further complicated by tobacco use, and marginal medical compliance. The illnesses encountered in the growing migrant population also provide unique interventional opportunities. Together with regional trauma referrals these factors contribute to the truly vast array of pathology encountered in the ED. ECU Health Medical Center is the second busiest trauma center in the state and sees a significant amount of penetrating trauma in addition to blunt trauma, industrial, and agricultural accidents.

The Acting Internship in Emergency Medicine is designed to acquaint students with the broad scope of emergency medical practice. The environment allows for individualized learning, facilitated by an emergency medicine faculty with a wide range of teaching and research interest. The faculty was recently ranked number nine nationally for EM research productivity. Faculty interest includes EMS, Air Medical Transport, Toxicology, Disaster Medicine and Global Health, Domestic Violence, International Medicine, Injury Prevention, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Education, Simulation, Ultrasound, and Observational Medicine.

The rotation includes extensive procedural lab experiences, ultrasound, simulation, and a medical student lecture series. Students rotating in the emergency department present directly to the attending physician and have the opportunity to expand their educational experience by working with a teaching resident. Students may elect to participate in EMS and aeromedical activities while rotating in the ED. Please apply early since we have a limited number of positions available due to a mandatory emergency medicine clerkship.

Apply now for limited rotation slots!

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