What sets your program apart from others?
What truly sets our program apart is our unique educational structure, beginning with the 1:1 resident-to-attending ration in the Emergency Department (ED). This isn’t just a ratio; it is the foundation of our entire clinical model.
Our ED is organized into dedicated care teams. For every 9-hour clinical shift, each resident is paired with one dedicated attending physician. This setup allows the resident to effectively run their own “mini-ED” within the larger department. This environment fosters:
- Unrivaled One-on-One Mentorship: You receive immediate, personalized feedback and guidance on every case, rapidly building confidence and accelerating your transition to independent practice and high-level clinical decision-making.
- True Ownership: You are responsible for patient flow, management decisions, and team leadership for your assigned patients, simulating the experience of an independent attending physician from day one.
To complement this focused mentorship, our residents benefit from being completely unopposed for all procedures and cases.
- This means that when an airway needs to be secured, a central line needs to be placed, or a complex resuscitation is underway, our Emergency Medicine residents are the first and only choice to perform the procedure.
- There is no competition with other residency programs, ensuring you maximize your procedural volume, gain unparalleled confidence, and graduate with a robust skill set ready for any clinical environment.
What are the benefits of attending a 3 vs. 4-year EM residency program?
The primary benefits of attending a 4-year Emergency Medicine residency program are the added time and flexibility it provides for specialized development and career positioning:
- Niche Cultivation: The extra year allows residents to cultivate a specialized “niche” in areas such as:
- Administration
- Global Health
- Ultrasound
- Medical Education
- Career Advancement: The extra year better positions residents for academic and leadership roles immediately after residency.
- Dedicated Development Time: This advantage is achieved by having dedicated time to build teaching experience and work on administrative projects.
What is something students may not know about your program?
While Kent is an academic community hospital in Rhode Island, its curriculum is fortified by high-acuity rotations that are difficult to match in a typical community setting. This combination offers the camaraderie and high-autonomy of a community-based residency with the high-volume, highly complex clinical experience typically associated with a major university program.
- World-Class Trauma Exposure: Residents rotate at the renowned Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland – one of the world’s premier trauma facilities. This early, dedicated exposure to high-volume, high-level trauma management is usually reserved for major university programs and provides a highly concentrated learning experience.
- Integrated Pediatric Training: Residents receive a longitudinal pediatric EM experience training at Hasbro Children’s Hospital (a tertiary care children’s hospital) with dedicated pediatric EM rotations as well as integrated pediatric EM shifts following EM blocks throughout residency, ensuring diverse and high-acuity pediatric exposure. Residents also do a dedicated PICU rotation during their PGY-III year at Hasbro where they gain experience taking care of critically ill pediatric patients.
- Focused Neonatology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Rotation: Residents rotate at Women and Infants’ Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island for a dedicated rotation on the labor and delivery service as well as the OBGYN emergency triage service. Residents also do a rotation in the Level IV NICU getting hands on experience taking care of neonates.
- Specialized Toxicology: Residents gain specialized experience in medical toxicology at Boston Children’s Hospital, a major academic institution.
What range of USMLE/COMLEX Step/Level 2 scores do you look for in an applicant for the program? Or alternatively, how do you feel about the change to pass/fail Step 1 grading?
We employ a holistic review process and do not use a strict score cut-off for applicants. However, standardized test scores play an important role in managing the high volume of applications.
Importance of Step 2 CK/Level 2
- With USMLE Step 1 moving to Pass/Fail, the Step 2 CK/Level 2 score has become significantly more important in our initial application screening process.
- A strong performance on Step 2 CK/Level 2 is essential to effectively demonstrate a candidate’s clinical readiness and foundational knowledge base.
What kinds of research opportunities exist? Do you look for residency candidates with research experience?
While Kent Hospital offers the focused environment of an academic community hospital, our 4-year curriculum is intentionally structured to ensure robust resident research support.
Program Structure and Resources
- Elective Time: A key advantage of our 4-year program is the inclusion of dedicated elective time during the PGY-3 and PGY-4 year. These electives allow for residents to explore new opportunities in the field of EM, pursue specific research projects, and gain experience prior to fellowship application. We offer a variety of electives that can be done in house but also support residents in pursing electives outside of the hospital to fulfill their specific interested in the field such as:
- Emergency Ultrasound
- Quality Improvement/Patient Safety
- EMS/Prehospital Medicine
- Medical Education
- Sports Medicine
- Wilderness Medicine
- Rural Medicine
- Global Health
- Event Medicine
- Subspecialty training (ophthalmology, SICU, MICU)
- University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine: Our affiliation with UNECOM provides access to a wider range of resources and opportunities for diverse, collaborative research
Does your institution offer opportunities to explore global health?
Yes, Global Health is a significant opportunity within our program, fully leveraging the flexibility of our 4-year curriculum.
Access and Resources
The 4-year structure includes dedicated PGY-4 elective time to pursue both clinical work and research projects in the Global Health sphere.
Past Experience and Sites
This opportunity has historically provided access to international sites, offering crucial experience in resource-limited settings:
- Rwanda, Madagascar, Costa Rica, India
We are always looking for and supporting new opportunities for Global Health experiences.
What qualities does your program look for in applicants?
The Kent EM Residency looks for candidates who possess a balanced combination of essential attributes necessary to thrive in our high-acuity, 4-year training environment.
Prioritized Attributes
- We seek applicants who demonstrate:
- Strong Clinical Aptitude: The ability to perform well in the clinical setting.
- Commitment to Medical Education and Scholarship: A desire to teach, learn, and contribute to the field.
- Alignment with Our Collaborative Culture: A focus on teamwork and collegiality.
Key Indicators of Success
- We prioritize candidates who exhibit the following, which demonstrates they are prepared for our program:
- Excellent Performance in EM Rotations: As reflected in positive Standardized Letters of Evaluation (SLOEs).
- Professionalism and Collegiality: The ability to work effectively and respectfully within a team.
- Foundational Medical Knowledge: Demonstrated through strong USMLE/COMLEX performance.
What attributes or experiences make applicants stand out?
While strong scores and clinical performance are certainly important, what truly makes an applicant stand out for the Kent EM Residency moves beyond metrics. We seek candidates who demonstrate the core qualities essential for success in Emergency Medicine: initiative, self-awareness, and a proven commitment to the field’s unique demands.
We highly value evidence of this maturity and dedication, which is often demonstrated through high-commitment engagement. This can include, but is not limited to:
- Taking on leadership roles.
- Securing deep, sustained EM exposure (e.g., EMS participation, serving as an EMT or EM scribe).
- Significant involvement in medical education or teaching roles.
These experiences confirm a mature understanding of the specialty and a dedicated passion for the field. Ultimately, we are looking for individuals whose commitment aligns with the unique, high-autonomy training opportunities our program offers.