Emergency Medicine Residency Program

The emergency medicine program at Kern Medical is one of the established programs in California, having trained residents since 1976. With seven residents per class and a total of 28 residents, the program fosters a close-knit, collaborative learning environment. The four-year curriculum emphasizes hands-on clinical training and offers a robust procedural experience, preparing residents for the full spectrum of emergency care.

Kern Medical serves as the county hospital, dedicated to meeting the needs of our community. As a Level II Trauma Center, and the only trauma center between Los Angeles and Fresno, we provide residents with a comprehensive trauma experience. Our expansive catchment area ensures exposure to a wide range of complex and high-acuity cases.

Our weekly didactics are run by faculty and residents and cover the EM curriculum over the course of two years. The conferences include journal club, board review, multidisciplinary lectures, ultrasound, and simulation sessions.

Graduates of our program have the skill and confidence to practice in any setting whether low or high resourced, urban or rural, academic or community.

Accreditation

The Kern Medical Emergency Medicine Residency Program was awarded full accreditation by the Residency Review Commission for Emergency Medicine (RRC-EM), with renewal in 2015. Our program is fully compliant with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recommendations regarding resident on-call duty hours.

About the Emergency Department

The emergency department treats approximately 50,000 patients each year. The department has six resuscitation bays, thirty-two beds, sixteen of which have telemetry monitoring. There are an additional nine rooms on the fast-track side of the department. A new pediatric wing of the emergency department is set to open in late 2025. All adult and pediatric traumas occurring in our catchment area come to our hospital where they are managed by our ER residents.