FAQ | Kennestone Emergency Medicine Residency

Kennestone Facts

A little about us.

3 year program (established 2017)
41 current residents: 14 PGY3, 14 PGY2, 13 PGY1
Males 23; Females 18

Brand new ED! One of the largest in the country.

Community program by definition, but is hybrid as we have community and academic-trained faculty. Diverse patient population.

166 Bed, 263,000 sq ft, two story Department
Comprehensive Cardiac Care & Stroke Center
Level II Trauma Center (American College of Surgeons)
Level I Emergency Cardiac Care Centers in largest ECCC network in GA
630 bed hospital, tertiary center for 11 Wellstar hospitals.

Level 2 Trauma Center – does this mean I don’t see acuity?

No way. You see every patient no matter how sick from day one. We have 24 hour in-house coverage of all specialties including NSGY, trauma, cardiothoracic, vascular, etc. You run the traumas as an intern with the trauma team with whom we have a great relationship.

2,700 Trauma activations year to date.
Not Level 1 due to lack of surgical residency and limited academic research.
EM residents in charge of trauma airways, chest tubes, and vascular access.

What’s the ED volume?

114,000/yr. ED can handle 220,000 per year. (15th busiest ED in Country)
Admission rate: 25-30%.
Current beds in use: 84 + 7 bed EMS holding area +/- hallway beds.

Does not include the 24 bed admission holding wing on 2nd floor, 16 bed Pediatric ER, or 12 bed psychiatric holding unit

Which rotations are away?

Pediatric ICU PGY2 at MCG Augusta, GA
Nice apartment provided ~ 10 min from hospital

Pediatrics PGY2 and longitudinal PGY3 at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Can you moonlight?

Yes, but nobody has done it yet.

Do you all get a lot of procedures?

We are a very procedure-heavy program as we do not have surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology, ENT, or anesthesia residencies. Many people finish their required ACGME procedure minimums by the end of intern year (except OB deliveries, which is a 3rd year rotation and chest tubes, which you will get more of at AMC).

Is there protected time for didactics?

Yes! Didactics are Thursday morning and interns do not have shifts Wednesday evening/night.

Didactic Structure?

EM Foundations once a month, small groups w/ faculty, and oral board practice scenarios
Dope simulation lab/equipment w/ every 3rd week of month dedicated to procedural workshops, simulated resuscitation & cases.
Asynchronous learning through provided resources
Book and Journal Club monthly (at an attendings house w/ food and drinks)

We use the problem-based curriculum Foundations of Emergency Medicine on a monthly basis. Once monthly simulations. We also have themed multimodal day 4 times per year, which is a day of procedures (including self defense station, ultrasound, competitions/games, etc.). Topics are interesting, relevant and we also have guest speakers too. We keep the lectures as short as possible. +FREE LUNCH 🙂

Research Opportunities:

Scholarly project required before graduating
Resources for research and mentors available to conduct projects in any area you are interested for presentation at national conferences
Additional funding available for conference fees, travel, and lodging
The Wellstar Library is able to help you find and access resources, and the Wellstar Research Institute can help you develop your project

Ultrasound in the Department:

Standardized Ultrasound curriculum taught by 2 US faculty and US resident assistant ultrasound director
Multiple scanners in department readily available
Ultrasound encouraged for use on all patients. Training with radiology techs for more complex scans offered.

Do you have free parking?

Yes. Covered parking deck

Where do residents live?

~50% live around Marietta / hospital. Areas include Downtown Marietta, Various Suburban areas, and The Battery which is where Atlanta Braves baseball stadium is.

~25% live in the city of Atlanta for an urban environment.

~25% live in the outskirts like Dallas, Cartersville for a more rural feel.

How does your program handle issues overall?

We take resident concerns seriously. There is an anonymous feedback form to submit complaints. You have an attending mentor and a PGY class advisor. Class meetings during didactics. Our program leadership is great about discussing tough subjects with us openly and our faculty and hospital give lots of mental health resources (wellness e-mails, free Calm app membership, counseling sessions).

Resident salary as of this year?

PGY1 = $59,750.98

PGY2 = $61,735.18

PGY3 = $64,351.27

What are the other perks?

Free concierge service to all residents (pick up laundry, change oil, find cheap flights, etc)
Free gym membership during residency (sauna, Olympic pool, yoga rooms, large variety of equipment, and much more!)
State park pass for Doctor’s day
$1000 for GME money (books, boards, etc.) each year
Funding if you present at conferences
Formal maternity & postpartum policy for scheduling & shift accommodations.

Maternity Policy (based on recs from ACEP and OBGYN leadership at WKH):

No overnight shifts in the 3rd trimester. This does not include 5pm shifts.
No sick call and no more than 3 shifts in a row in the 4 weeks prior to or after your due date.
There is also a paternity policy that is being formulated now.

How is the schedule handled? Vacation time?

By the chiefs ~2 months in advance. You can submit 3 high priority days off of your choosing, usually get at least 1 golden weekend off per month.

3 weeks of vacation per year (taken 1 week at a time) PLUS 5 days off for *either* New Years or Christmas on most rotations. Dedicated days off once per month for girls/guys night, PGY class night, whole residency off.

Meal stipend, cafeteria hours, and is food good?

$3600 per year, which is more than enough, yummy food always with a vegetarian option and salad and soup bar.
Open M-F 6 AM-8 PM and 11:30 PM – 3 AM
Open weekends 7 AM-7:30 PM and 11:30 PM-3 AM

How many ED shifts do you work?

18 for PGY-1
17 for PGY-2
16 +1 resuscitation shift for PGY3 (includes longitudinal peds shifts at CHOA)
Average 3 +/-1 night shifts (10 PM) per month (back to back)
Max 5 evening 5 pm shifts per month, all above shifts include an on-call shift
Most shifts are 1 on 1 with attending, otherwise senior+intern+attending (2:1)

Do you have faculty mentors?

Yep, you rank your desired faculty mentor intern year and get matched up. You also have a separate family with a PGY1, PGY2, and PGY3 🙂

What’s the shift structure?

10 hours total; 8 hour picking up patients + 2 hours to finish notes and dispositions.
We do sign out, but encourage wrapping up pts from start to finish. We usually get out on time.

What is your residency culture?

We have each others’ backs. Seniors assist and give away procedures to interns. We joke around… A lot. With attendings on shift too. Very relaxed, but we work hard and play hard. Diversity is big at our program (ethnicity/race, hobbies, gender orientation, marital status, age, religion or lack thereof, etc.) including with our ancillary staff.

Contact information:

Instagram: @wellstar_em

Recruitment Email: wskemrecruitment@gmail.com

Chief Email: wskemchiefs@gmail.com