Curriculum in the Disaster Medicine Fellowship

Possible activities include:

U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense/U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infection Disease (USAMRID/USAMRCD) chemical and biological casualty care course at Ft. Detrick in Maryland
Health care surge course at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Alabama; Hazmat course at the Center for Domestic Preparedness or at an alternate site
International rotation at JFK Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia
Health policy rotation at the Veterans Administration, Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)
Rotation at the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH)
Wilderness medicine course, combat medicine course or confined space medicine course at various training locations The fellow is also invited to attend monthly ISDH Indiana State Trauma Care Committee meetings.

Hospital Emergency Management

The fellow attends monthly meetings as a member of the emergency management committees at Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital and either Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health or IU Health Methodist Hospital.

Assigned Reading

The official textbook for the Disaster Medicine Fellowship is Koenig and Schultz’s Disaster Medicine. Disaster medicine fellows complete regular reading assignments and discussions each week. Each month, the fellow is required to find, discuss and critically appraise one current study in disaster medicine during journal club. This club is open to faculty, residents, medical students and others interested in disaster medicine. Other recommended readings include Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink and The Great Influenza by John M. Berry.

Academic Project

During the year-long program, the disaster medicine fellow develops and completes a research project, curriculum development project or other scholarly activity approved by the fellowship directors. Early in the year, the fellow meets with one of the IU School of Medicine Emergency Medicine research faculty, who will assist in developing the academic project. The project should result in a publication or a presentation at a national-level conference.

Clinical Requirements

The traditional disaster medicine fellow works a total of six clinical shifts per month at Eskenazi Hospital, IU Health Methodist Hospital or one of the IU Health community emergency departments. The fellow is responsible for direct supervision and clinical teaching of the Emergency Medicine residents, medical students and other rotators in the department. In addition, the fellow is responsible for ensuring that clinical duties do not interfere with required fellowship responsibilities, and all scheduling is completed through the assigned departmental representative. Any additional clinical time must not violate duty hour limits. Non-traditional fellows will coordinate equivalent clinical requirements on a case-by-case basis.