Testimonials From Emergency Medicine Residents​

Class of 2024

Kristina Damisch, MD

University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine

Given the move to virtual interviews, I was understandably nervous about uprooting myself four states away to a hospital I'd never been to with people I'd only briefly talked to. My fears resolved almost immediately upon reaching Erie. The residents and staff are exceptionally down-to-earth, good-humored, kind, inclusive people who not only care about your education, but about your well-being. I'm just as happy to see my new friends at work as I am outside of work.

With respect to the ED itself, I've been floored at the acuity. Within my first month of residency, I had already been involved with what attendings referred to as a "once-in-a-career" emergency. As the only trauma center in approximately 9,000 square miles, we constantly see trauma cases of the highest severity. The ED is also high-volume in addition to being high-acuity, and with just 6 residents per class, opportunities for procedures and interesting pathology are abundant. There are no general surgery or anesthesia residents to compete with, either.

I'm still amazed at how lucky I am to have matched here. It's a great program and deserves to be widely known as such!

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Alumni

Alexander Sloboda, MD

Drexel University College of Medicine

The UPMC Hamot Emergency Medicine Residency Program is truly a gem of a program. The clinical training experience is parallel, if not stronger, to the places I’ve worked and experienced in NYC and Chicago since graduation. It’s a good balance of an academic and community setting ED with high volume and acuity. It’s rare to train in EM at a regional trauma center and actually get to run the resuscitations and do all the procedures for blunt and penetrative level 1 traumas without competition from other services. From day one, you get to lead resuscitations with the proper support of your attendings, co-residents, nurses, and ED staff. You also get to do a lot of your own management of complex, sick, and critical patients without always having to involve or rely on specialty services. By your second year, you’re helping teach new interns how to do procedures and run resuscitations after doing so many just in your first year. The faculty, co-residents, and staff are also so fun and approachable, and they are great to hang out with outside of work.

You will be prepared to work in any clinical setting across the country. From a rural community critical access ED to a large metropolitan academic or county hospital. I felt more than prepared to be an attending at a large urban academic center in NYC as well as working as an emergency medicine physician in a Nigerian teaching hospital after graduation during my global emergency medicine fellowship. With the preparation I received at UPMC Hamot, I was quickly able to become an Emergency Medicine faculty member at a large urban academic center in Chicago shortly after fellowship in order to pursue my interests in Social EM and Global Health.

The support you receive from the program leadership and faculty at Hamot is great. They support you in your specific interests and passions. With their support, I was able to start a mentorship and pipeline program with the local public high school, lead data collection for a research study on PTSD and emotional trauma of patients with injuries from interpersonal violence, attend an African Emergency Medicine Conference in Rwanda, and complete an international rotation in Nigeria. Since graduating, I’ve worked with many emergency medicine physicians training at various prestigious academic, county, and community hospitals across the country, and I still think UPMC Hamot is second to none in clinical training and exposure.

Mathew Woodley, DO

Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences

UPMC Hamot’s Emergency Medicine program will prepare you to handle anything that walks through the door, wherever you are. After graduating Hamot’s EM program in 2017, I moved with my family to practice medicine in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. While nothing can truly prepare you for such a practice setting, I truly believe my training at Hamot came as close as possible. Through a dedicated faculty, a high patient to resident ratio, endless opportunities for procedures, minimal competition from other residency programs, and international opportunities you will be well trained whether your ultimate destination is a tertiary referral center in a developed nation or the middle of the bush in one of the most remote places on earth.

Kasey Tobin, DO

Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine

UPMC Hamot Emergency Medicine Residency provided excellent training and made me feel more than prepared for becoming an attending. I went to work at a smaller community hospital after residency and felt that I was capable of taking care anything that came through the door. When I interviewed for the program, I fell in love. Everyone was so welcoming and seemed like a large family, which I was looking for. I'm now so grateful to have been part of the great family of UPMC Hamot emergency medicine residents. The entire hospital is welcoming of the residents. In the ED, you are definitely never short of patients to see and learn from. So much pathology comes through the doors that you will constantly be learning. There are tons of procedures available to do. The attendings are also very welcoming and enjoy teaching. I know this for a fact since I am now an attending back here at UPMC Hamot. I've fallen in love with Erie! I'm originally from Texas and people are always asking how I could like Erie and its weather. Well, I love the seasons and there is so much to do here. It very much has the feel of a small town with big city amenities. The UPMC Hamot Emergency Medicine Residency Program provides great training and I'm so glad that I was able to be a part of it!