About the Program

Mara Aloi, MD, RDMS, Program Director

Length of EM Program:		3 Years
Number of EM Positions:		24 Total (8 per year)
Length of EM/IM Program:		5 Years
Number of EM/IM Positions:		10 Total (2 per year)

Since 1982, Allegheny General Hospital has offered the Emergency Medicine Residency Program. This three-year program, which offers eight PGY-1 positions each year, prepares residents to provide emergency medical services and to serve as emergency medical services advisors to the hospital and community. Enthusiastic board-certified emergency physicians constitute the faculty of Emergency Medicine. Through comprehensive clinical experience and varied research opportunities, residents are trained in medical care for acute and life-threatening situations.

Allegheny General Hospital logs more than 40,000 emergency medicine visits annually, giving residents an opportunity to observe a wide variety of patients, including those with medical, surgical, toxicologic, traumatic and psychiatric problems. Because admission rate and patient acuity levels are high, residents are exposed to an excellent clinical mix. Pediatric patients comprise one-fifth of the patient population. There is an inpatient pediatric rotation at Allegheny General Hospital as well as a pediatric intensive care rotation at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and a pediatric emergency department elective.

Allegheny General Hospital’s Emergency Medicine Residency offers a diverse experience in EMS and critical care transport medicine. The Hospital’s LifeFlight Program exposes residents to advanced prehospital care in both the interhospital and scene environments. Resident involvement can begin in the first two years accompanying the flight team in an observation status. After the second year, residents can do a rotation as a team member, functionally replacing one of the flight nurses. Ground EMS experience begins as an intern riding along with one of our nine affiliated EMS agencies. After completing their internship, residents may elect to participate in Allegheny General’s Assistant EMS Medical Director program. This program allows residents to take ownership of an EMS agency throughout the remainder of their residency. They function under the supervision of the agency’s Medical Director, learning the intricacies of EMS medical direction. Our residents also participate in yearly hospital-wide mass casualty drills and provide medical coverage for regional and national events such as the Pennsic Wars.

Quality assurance is a key component of the Emergency Medicine program. There are numerous aspects of quality assurance, including daily record review, that help ensure proper patient care and educational feedback to the Emergency Department staff. In addition, prospective and retrospective studies are periodically conducted on such topics as radiograph and EKG interpretation, resuscitation techniques, infectious disease treatment and patient follow-up.