Program Overview
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A Message from the Program Director
The goal of this program is to empower each graduate with the skills required to practice quality emergency medicine and provide insight on how to balance career and personal goals. We provide residents with great clinical training from a stable and experienced faculty as well as guidance in managing the financial and personal challenges encountered after training.
We want our residents to not only be successful during training, but also happy in life.
Thomas Cook, MD
Program Director
Department of Emergency Medicine
Palmetto Health Richland
University of South Carolina School of Medicine
Facilities
Palmetto Health Richland
The hospital of Palmetto Health Richland is a beautifully landscaped facility that lies on a large hospital campus near downtown Columbia. The main tower holds 650 beds including the critical care units. Ten office buildings on campus contain the offices of private physicians, the Palmetto Health Residency Programs, and the office of Graduate Medical Education. In addition, the campus is home to Richland Springs, a behavioral health facility, Columbia Area Mental Health Clinic, HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital, and a Ronald McDonald House.
Adjacent to the main tower is the Palmetto Health Children's Hospital. This new six-floor facility provides advanced care to children from areas around the state and beyond.
In 2006, Palmetto Health Heart Hospital opened a new $78 million facility — the only freestanding heart hospital in South Carolina. The emergency department works very closely with cardiology for state-of-the-art care for patients with heart-related diseases.
Emergency department renovations over the past several years have provided a state-of-the-art facility with more than 50,000 square feet of clinical space. Patients are referred to different PODS based on their age and acuity.
Treatment Area
Number of beds
POD 2 – Triage
4 suites
POD 3 – Children's Emergency Center
7 suites; 1 resuscitation bay
(expansion in planning)POD 5 & 6 – Critical Care
14 suites
POD 7 – Acute Psychiatric Care Beds
5 beds
POD 8 – Trauma Resuscitation
2 Bays
POD 9 – Adult Acute Care
10 suites; 1 ENT procedure bay
POD 9 – Chest Pain Unit
10 suites
Patient tracking is accomplished through a computerized system capable of providing information on past medical history including patient visits, discharge summaries, procedure reports, past laboratory studies, and demographics. Radiographic imaging is reviewed in PACS systems located throughout the ED. A dedicated STAT laboratory is located in the department for processing ED patient specimens with turnaround times of less than one hour.
There are three physician work areas located in PODS 3, 5, and 9. Each work area has computer stations with high-speed internet access, PACS imaging centers, and reference software and textbooks.
WILLIAM JENNING BRYAN DORN VETERAN'S HOSPITAL
Adjacent to the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, the William Jennings Bryan Dorn Veterans Hospital is one of the teaching hospitals for the medical school. This Veteran's Hospital serves veterans throughout central South Carolina. The VA has been utilized for intern critical care training for years and has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the residents.
Located 7.6 miles from the Palmetto Health Richland campus, the approximate driving time is 16 minutes.