Why OU?
The University of Oklahoma offers the opportunity to train in emergency medicine at the state’s flagship academic medical center while helping shape the future of a new residency program. At OU Health, residents care for patients with a broad range of illness and injury, from common emergency conditions to complex, high-acuity presentations referred from across Oklahoma and the surrounding region. The breadth of clinical care across OU Health creates an exceptional environment to learn emergency medicine while working alongside physicians from a wide range of medical and surgical specialties.
OU Emergency Medicine is being built by faculty who are deeply invested in Oklahoma and in the future of emergency care across the state. Many of our faculty are Oklahoma natives or OU alumni who have joined the department with the shared excitement of creating a residency program that combines the strengths of a major academic medical center with an ambitious vision to advance emergency medicine education, clinical care, and innovation across Oklahoma.
The Resources of an Academic Medical Center
One of the greatest strengths of training at OU is the depth of knowledge and experience available to our residents. Within the Department of Emergency Medicine, residents will learn from faculty with diverse clinical and academic interests, including medical education, ultrasound, EMS, toxicology, research, and other areas of emergency medicine. Across the OU College of Medicine, residents also have access to broad subspecialty expertise and established fellowship programs in areas such as Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Sports Medicine, and Hospice and Palliative Care. This depth of expertise creates opportunities for learning, mentorship, collaboration, scholarship, and career exploration well beyond the Emergency Department.
The depth of expertise across OU is matched by a strong commitment to education. Faculty within Emergency Medicine and across the College of Medicine are invested in teaching, mentorship, and the development of our residents. As we build our residency, we are also intentional about continuing to develop our faculty as educators, with ongoing faculty development in clinical teaching, feedback, assessment, and supervision. Our goal is to create an environment where residents learn from faculty who are invested not only in what they teach, but in how they teach.
While residents benefit from the resources and complexity of a major academic medical center, their training is not limited to the academic setting. Experiences at OU Health Edmond Medical Center and OU Health ER & Urgent Care provide meaningful exposure to community practice and different models of emergency care. These clinical experiences remain within OU Health, with residents working alongside the same Emergency Medicine faculty who teach and supervise them throughout their training. This combination provides the breadth of academic and community emergency medicine while maintaining continuity in teaching, mentorship, and program expectations across clinical settings.
A New Program Built on Experience
Our residency may be new, but the experience and resources behind it are not. The program was built by emergency physicians and educators with extensive experience in undergraduate and graduate medical education, residency and fellowship training, and curriculum development, as well as active involvement and leadership within national emergency medicine organizations. Residents have the opportunity to be part of something new while training within an established academic institution with the clinical breadth, specialty expertise, and educational infrastructure to support their development.
The creation of our residency is also part of a broader institutional commitment to the future of emergency medicine in Oklahoma. From the establishment of the Department of Emergency Medicine, residency education has been central to the University's vision for strengthening emergency care, education, and the physician workforce across our state. That commitment gives us both the opportunity and the responsibility to build an exceptional training program.
Being part of a new residency also means having a meaningful voice in its continued growth. We want residents to bring their ideas, interests, and perspectives to the program and help shape its traditions and culture. At the same time, our responsibility is to provide the structure, mentorship, clinical experience, and educational foundation they need to become outstanding emergency physicians.