2024 Course Overview

Information for the 2025 course is not yet available.

This course is a 2-day, 17-hour course that provides participants with the knowledge and skills to expand their knowledge of out-of hospital medicine. Through a dynamic and interactive format, the course focuses on lecture, panel, and QA-based formats to optimize provider knowledge around the pre-hospital system and the hospital’s integration with EMS. This course is designed for physicians, PAs, NPs, and RNs who interact with the prehospital health care system frequently, likely emergency, critical care, or internal medicine providers. This course is also designed for EMTs, paramedics, and other pre-hospital care providers who would like to gain knowledge in EMS-hospital systems integration.

The goal of this course is to teach providers to improve their EMS knowledge on:

  • EMS certification, scope of practice, and limitations of different provider levels.
  • EMS system design and systems of care.
  • Protocols and online medical control with basic federal/regional rules and regulations.
  • Provider awareness of their responsibilities and liability for medical control, as well as interfacility transportation.
  • Awareness of upcoming controversies and expansions in EMS.

Who Should Attend

  • Emergency Physicians
  • Critical Care Physicians
  • Hospitalists
  • Specialty Physicians
  • Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Nurses
  • EMTs, paramedics, and other pre-hospital care providers 

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

  • Identify EMS provider-level scope of practice and limitations.
  • Explain basic EMS system organization.
  • Recognize provider and hospital legal responsibilities and risks related to EMS.
  • Understand helicopter vs ground EMS capabilities and limitations.
  • Apply knowledge to choose the optimal transport modality for patients.
  • Learn about mass casualty and disaster incidents and how hospital based providers participate and integrate into systems.
  • Identify and appraise upcoming EMS controversies and potential for expansion.

Course Directors

Christie Fritz, MD, MS
EMS Division Faculty, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center;
Instructor, Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School;
Attending Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center;

Stephen Thomas, MD, MPH
Member of the Faculty, Harvard Medical School;
Attending Physician in Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center;

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  • ABMS/ACGME Competencies

    This course is designed to meet the following American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) / Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Educational (ACGME) competencies:

    • Patient Care and Procedural Skills
    • Professionalism
    • Systems-Based Practice
    • Interpersonal and Communication Skills
    • Practice-Based Learning and Improvement 

  • IOM Competencies

    This course is designed to meet the following Institute of Medicine Core Competencies:

    • Provide Patient-Centered Care
    • Employ Evidence-Based Practice
    • Apply Quality Improvement Work in Interdisciplinary Teams 

Questions?

Please contact the Continuing Education Programs with any questions by email at learn@hms.harvard.edu.

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