Location: Goodyear, Arizona

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Number of Residents Per Year: 7

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Year Established: 2020

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Primary Training Sites:

Abrazo West Hospital – Goodyear, Arizona

Abrazo West is our primary site and the sponsor of the Emergency Medicine residency as well as a transitional year program.  It is located on the west side of the Phoenix metropolitan area and is right in the middle of the fastest growing area in the U.S.  The majority of emergency department shifts, and the majority of all rotations will take place here.  Abrazo West is a 212 bed,  level 1 trauma center that continues to grow and develop into the academic center of the West Valley of Phoenix.  Abrazo West has a comprehensive list of medical and surgical services with over 500 physicians on the medical staff.  Abrazo West offers an extensive specialty back up panel transferring only a small number of patients other than pediatric and medically stable psychiatric patients.

 

·Abrazo Arrowhead Hospital- Glendale, Arizona

Abrazo Arrowhead is a 217-bed hospital located on the west side of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The emergency department is a busy, community ED and the hospital is the primary site for both the Internal Medicine and General Surgery residency programs.

 

·Abrazo Central Hospital- Phoenix, Arizona

Abrazo Central is a 221-bed hospital in the central area of Phoenix. The emergency department is a busy, urban ED and the hospital is the primary site for a long-established Family Medicine residency.  EM residents do not currently rotate at this facility other than on selected off service rotations and selectives.

 

·Abrazo Buckeye Hospital – Buckeye, Arizona

Abrazo Buckeye is a busy, 17-bed stand alone emergency department about 20 minutes west of Abrazo West. The ED sees over 30,000 patients per year. Generally, PGY2 and PGY3 residents spend time at this facility as “Junior Attendings”.

 

·Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital – Phoenix, Arizona

The Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital is a 59-bed specialized cardiac facility in Phoenix that hosts multiple world renowned cardiac related institutes. The emergency department focuses on cardiac disorders but of course all emergency patients are evaluated and treated by board certified emergency physicians.  Other than limited shifts in the emergency department, residents will spend time here on cardiology and Cardiac Critical Care Unit rotations and have the opportunity to learn advanced techniques during a cardiology selective.

 

·Phoenix Children’s Hospital (Main Campus)- Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix Children’s is a 433 bed, level 1 pediatric trauma facility with advanced pediatric specialty care that draws patients from around the world.  It hosts multiple pediatric training programs and research facilities.  This site was chosen for the pediatric emergency department (one month inPGY-2) and pediatric intensive care (one month in PGY 2) experiences. 

 

·Phoenix Children’s Emergency Department (Avondale Campus)- Arizona

Phoenix Children’s Emergency Department – Avondale Campus is a busy pediatric emergency department staffed by the same Pediatric EM trained physicians that staff the main campus. This campus began seeing patients in 2023 and is predicted to see approximately 50,000 patients per year in 2024. Residents from the Abrazo EM program are the only learners at this site allowing for one to one teaching with Pediatric EM physicians. This site was chosen for the first pediatric EM experience for one month in PGY1.

 

Banner Thunderbird Hospital – Glendale, Arizona

Residents spend one month in the Banner Thunderbird Pediatric emergency department during PGY3. This is a busy, community pediatric emergency department with board certified pediatric emergency physicians supervising residents.

 

·Estrella Mountain Eye Care – Avondale, Arizona

Residents spend one week during PGY-1 with Dr. Pyle-Smith, OD learning the eye exam and becoming proficient in the diagnosis, treatment and disposition of patients with ophthalmologic disease.

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St. Joseph’s hospital – Phoenix, Arizona

St. Joseph’s is a busy, academic community hospital in central Phoenix. EM residents spend 2 weeks during their PGY-2 with the OB service. This service hosts an ACGME accredited OB/GYN residency program.

 

EM Subspecialty Exposure (EMS, Toxicology, Ultrasound, etc.)

EMS:  We offer stand alone EMS rotations and a longitudinal EMS experience including opportunities for flight, though flight is not mandatory.

Tox:  We currently offer a tox elective through BUMC for those interested.

Ultrasound:  We are an ultrasound heavy program, assigning Butterfly Ultrasounds to each of our residents.  We offer a stand alone ultrasound rotation and also have a longitudinal ultrasound curriculum.  This is led by Dr.’s Joseph Wood and Javi Andrade

 

Fellowships Offered (if any): N/A

 

What Makes Your Program Unique or Special?

Our program places a high emphasis on resident education.  Our residents are excused from shifts and wards for every educational activity.  We alternate simulation and education days every month.  We ensure that our Emergency departments are staffed to run without any residents being there so that when we have residents, we can focus on their education and not use them as physician extenders.  Our faculty routinely lecture and attend our Friday conferences to ensure our lectures are engaging and high yield.  For the last 2 years in a row, we’ve had every resident get a poster to AAEM so we’ve been able to go to the conference as a residency.

 

How Do You Support Resident Wellness?

We start off by ensuring you are not overworked, aiming to be between the 40th and 60th percentile in terms of hours worked per month in the ED.  We have multiple wellness events including Kickball, Friendsgiving, July 4th Party, a holiday party, and multiple events along the way.  Every resident has access to free sessions with a mental health provider.  Every resident is assigned to a “Mentor Family”  which includes 1st-3rd year residents and a faculty member. 

 

What Qualities Do You Value in Applicants to Your Program?

We are very proud of the culture we’ve created in our residency.  We are looking for applicants who will contribute to our culture by being kind, responsible and motivated to learn.  We also like to see people who have proven a strong commitment to EM and a desire to serve in the greater phoenix area.

 

MS4 Sub-Internship opportunities:

Applications open 3/1. Rotations are in 4 week blocks. 5 spots for sub-I + 1 ultrasound 

 

Tips for the Sub I:

1. Take ownership of your patients (check on results, round on them frequently/update them)

2. Learn clinical decision rules (HEART Score, PERC, Canadian Head CT)

3. Always be looking for ways to help

4. Taking a strong interest in seeing patients and trying to learn as much as possible from each encounter

5. Be a team player.​