General

Updated Information Regarding Modification to our Traditional Application Process due to COVID-19

Regarding the 2020-2021 Emergency Medicine Residency Match, The Sparrow Hospital EM Residency Program will be following guidelines and recommendations based upon the Consensus Statement on the 2020-2021 Residency Application Process for US Medical Students Planning Careers in Emergency Medicine in the Main Residency Match.

As outlined in this statement:

1. Only one Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE) will be expected from each applicant. Multiple SLOEs from a single rotation will be discouraged. While more than one SLOE is not what we seek, should additional EM rotations occur and multiple SLOEs be written, these will be accepted, however these students will not be viewed more favorably than those with a single SLOE.

2. A greater emphasis and weight will be placed this particular year on the non-Emergency Medicine rotation Letters of Recommendation. These will include letters from non-EM rotations, subspecialty EM experiences, or from EM mentors with whom an applicant has a unique and ongoing professional relationship with. We encourage you to obtain these letters from physician who are able to comment on both your clinical skills and the particular personal attributes you possess that strengthen your overall application.

3. All EM residency interviews at Sparrow Hospital will be conducted virtually for the 2020-2021 application year. Applicants will be expected to submit their application via ERAS as previously with virtual interviews beginning in early November until late January.

4. Second look, on site visits, will not be encouraged this year as this may raise both safety concerns in addition to introducing bias towards particular students and producing unnecessary pressures on applicants.

This is a unique and unprecendented period of time in which you have all been placed. While certainly not ideal, we are looking forward to speaking with each of you during a personal virtual interview towards the end of fall/early winter and are confident that both you as applicants, and the Sparrow EM residency leadership, will be successful in matching an incredible 2021 Emergency Medicine residency first year class. We look forward to receiving and reviewing your ERAS application. Please see additional information below on how to apply, applicant requirements, and dates to be aware of.

Dr. Kristen Owen,

Program Director

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

picture of residents of 2019

Dr. John Weigenstein

John G Wiegensein, MD. Founder of the MSU Emergency Medicine Program in 1973 and founder of ACEP in 1968

As one of the oldest emergency medicine residencies in the country, the MSU/Emergency Medicine residency program conducted at Sparrow Health System and McLaren Greater Lansing has a long and vibrant history of existence. More than 40 years ago, Dr. John Wiegenstein began the arduous process of establishing the specialty of Emergency Medicine in the medical field. Generally considered the father of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Wiegenstein was the first president of The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and worked for decades at McLaren Hospital. He served as faculty in the residency until his retirement, and was a man of great vision.

Dr. Wiegenstein recruited dedicated faculty and established a collegial relationship between two healthcare systems in Lansing, Michigan. He also developed a long-standing relationship between the residency and Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and College of Osteopathic Medicine that still exists today. We have the privilege of being affiliated with Michigan State University, a Big Ten school with all the attributes while retaining the community training focus. This model has served our residents well.

The philosophy of our residency is one of community training with university affiliation to create physicians who are skilled in emergency medicine, able to work in any setting, and who care for patients from all walks of life equally. This residency was also the first dually accredited (ACGME/AOA) Emergency Medicine Residency in the world.

Our graduates have travelled the globe, achieved fellowship status in many subspecialties, become leaders in national organizations, program directors, department directors, and leaders in their communities. Lansing has served as the home of ACEP, SAEM, and ABEM. ACEP, ACOEP, and ABEM have been well-served by our graduates, with many achieving fellowship within these organizations, including the 2018 president of ACEP, Dr. Vidor E. Friedman being one of our graduates.

Lansing & East Lansing

Lansing serves as the capital of Michigan and is located in the center of the state, about 90 miles west of Detroit (the largest city). The greater Lansing area has a population of nearly one half million people. It has all the attributes of a mid-sized city in addition to rural small town hospitality outside of the city. It also has the added benefits of a nearby college town atmosphere. In the city of Lansing and nearby East Lansing there is plenty to do including:

Visiting the Wharton Center for a Broadway production
Potter Park Zoo and the Gardens at Michigan State
Lake Lansing, County Parks and Nature Centers with canoeing, fishing, skiing and biking
Lansing Lugnuts: A Class-A minor league baseball team affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays
MSU Big Ten Sporting events: Basketball and football are especially popular events to go to.
Take a walk or bike ride along the expansive Lansing River Trail

The Michigan State University in East Lansing offers:

Big Ten College town atmosphere with plenty of shopping, restaurants and bars
Intramural sports and exercise facilities, pools, and Forest Akers Golf Course
Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum
The MSU Dairy Store serves fresh ice cream year-round

Michigan

In the entire state of Michigan there are even more opportunities including:

Thousands of parks and lakes (including the Great Lakes themselves)
Hundreds of festivals year-round
Historic Mackinac Island
Beauty: sand dunes, shores, wineries, apple orchards, golf courses, cross country biking and skiing to enjoy in all four seasons

About the program caption Sparrow hospital

Our program is a dually accredited training site that prepares residents for certification by both the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine. Residents participate in a rigorous curriculum between Sparrow Hospital and McLaren Greater Lansing Hospital. The close proximity and affiliation with Michigan State University Colleges of Osteopathic and Human Medicine offers our residents a unique opportunity to participate in medical student education, simulation medicine, and hands-on procedural laboratories.

Sparrow Hospital boasts Level I Trauma certification with a high-volume/high-acuity, fast-paced ED environment seeing over 100,000 patients per year, with a dedicated Pediatric Emergency Department. Sparrow is a Comprehensive Stroke Care Center with interventional capability, and also has pediatric and neonatal intensive care units in addition to the medical, trauma, and cardiac intensive care units.

The McLaren Greater Lansing facility offers diverse community hospital emergency department care with lots of hands-on learning opportunities. This hospital specializes in orthopedics and cardiac care. In this hospital system, you will truly realize the feel for real community medicine. It is rare in a program to have two core sites that are so different in practice styles. This allows you to learn how to manage patients independently and with a team of specialists by your side.

Training in Lansing offers the best of both worlds, with a Level I trauma tertiary care center as well as a community hospital center. Our residency has been training residents for over 35 years, and is located in the home city of the American Board of Emergency Medicine. Our didactics occur every Thursday and once a month on Wednesdays. They include small group sessions, EKG interpretative skills, simulation sessions, journal club, interdisciplinary group learning, ultrasound sessions, and skills labs. We have a dedicated group of faculty members who enjoy teaching and mentoring residents. Faculty participate both regionally and nationally in emergency medicine education.

We promise to offer you outstanding training in emergency medicine in a tertiary care community-based hospital environment that offers nearly all of the specialty areas that our patients may possibly require.