Behavioral Health Emergency Medicine Fellowship

What to Expect

Emergency Care Specialists sponsors a one-year, non-accredited, Behavioral Health (BH) Emergency Medicine fellowship. Applications are accepted on a rolling cadence for ABEM or AOBEM board-certified or board-eligible Emergency Medicine (EM) physicians. ECS is a physician-owned, independent group of EM providers with over 250 physicians and advanced practice providers. Our group is built on a culture of service, and has demonstrated continual growth and expertise across the continuum of acute care for over 35 years. ECS provides medical professional staffing for a combined volume of more than 350,000 annual ED visits. ECS offers compensation packages based on nationally competitive rates.

Clinical Shifts

The fellow’s clinical shifts will be primarily scheduled at the Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital Emergency Department and Emergency Psychiatric Assessment Treatment & Healing observation unit (EmPATH). Corewell Health is a national leader in health care and has been recognized as one of the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems by Truven Health Analytics®, part of IBM Watson Health™. Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital is a tertiary referral center and includes a Level 1 Trauma Center with more than 110,000 emergency department patient visits annually. Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital Emergency Department and the EmPATH unit are owned and operated by Corewell Health Hospitals which is not affiliated with ECS.

Innovation in Emergency Behavioral Health

A fellowship in Emergency BH prepares emergency physicians to lead in the development of effective programs to improve the care of individuals seeking treatment for acute psychiatric crisis. Fellows will have the opportunity to learn and practice in a care setting that supports optimal outcomes for BH emergencies and includes a collaborative interdisciplinary team. EmPATH is an innovative model of care that takes a comprehensive approach to the acute treatment and stabilization of BH emergencies. The EmPATH unit is directly adjacent to the Butterworth Hospital ED and aims to improves ED throughput, patient outcomes and significantly reduce the need for inpatient psychiatric admissions. The EmPATH unit is a part of a comprehensive dedicated, Emergency Observation Service that has been operating for over 14 years and has an average census of 500-600 patient visits per month with an average length of stay less than 17 hours.

The fellow will gain valuable experience in many spheres of BH, including treatment and stabilization of acute psychiatric emergencies, substance use disorders, toxicology, inpatient and outpatient psychiatric therapies, quality improvement, program development and collaboration with community agencies. The fellow will have the opportunity to customize experiences based on learning objectives. The fellow will develop a unique skill-set that is in high demand and paramount to communities and healthcare systems with the focus on population health and transition to value-based care.

About Grand Rapids

Our program is located in Grand Rapids, the second largest city in Michigan, with more than 65,000 undergraduate and graduate students and a rapidly expanding population. Grand Rapids was on the U.S. News & World Report's 2017 Top 20 Best Places to Live, as well as Forbes Magazine's 2017 No. 1 Best City for Raising a Family.

For more information on West Michigan, visit Experience GR

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