The Denver Health Residency in Emergency Medicine educates, trains, and prepares emergency medicine residents to be unparalleled clinicians and future leaders through exposure to high volume, high acuity and diverse clinical environments.
WORLD-CLASS TRAINING IN THE HEART OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
Established in 1860, Denver Health is the oldest continuously operating hospital in Colorado and the only Level I Trauma Center in the City of Denver whose main focus is to care for the people of the Rocky Mountain Region.
Denver Health is a comprehensive, integrated organization dedicated to providing level one care for all, regardless of ability to pay. Twenty-five percent of all Denver residents (approximately 150,000 individuals) and about 33% of children receive their health care at Denver Health. ​
As a health system, Denver Health is committed to providing exceptional care to those with special health needs, especially the poor, the underinsured, pregnant teens, persons with substance addiction, victims of violence, the homeless, and those with HIV/AIDS. It is the home of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, one of the oldest in the nation, and has provided in-house ambulance service since 1892. ​
We are committed to making our community a healthy place to live, work, and raise a family. You’ll see that commitment in the programs we offer, through the care we provide, and in our determination to achieve continuous improvement for our patients and our community. ​
LEVEL ONE CARE FOR ALL
Welcome From the Program Director
W. Gannon Sungar, DO
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EM Residency Program Director
Associate Professor,
University of Colorado School of Medicine
The Denver Health Residency in Emergency Medicine (DHREM) is one of the oldest and most highly regarded emergency medicine training programs in the country, with a track record of producing leaders in our specialty. Since the program’s inception in 1974, DHREM has been at the forefront of emergency medicine resident education, a commitment that continues to this day.
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The bedrock of our program is in training clinically excellent emergency physicians. This is the core of our focus because that is what our trainees, and more importantly, our patients deserve. Clinical excellence is achieved through varied clinical training sites, high-volume patient exposure, resident ownership and agency in patient care, and a commitment to coaching residents to meet the highest expectations of clinical competence. Our program is unique in that it combines multiple training environments, including county, academic, and community emergency medicine sites. Our two main clinical sites, Denver Health Medical Center, an urban level-one trauma center and safety-net county hospital, and the University of Colorado Hospital, a tertiary/quaternary academic referral center and level-one trauma center, provide the opportunity for our residents to care for the full breadth of emergency medicine.
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With our roots at Denver Health, a county safety-net institution, we are fully committed to health equity. This starts with recruiting and supporting a diverse resident workforce to mirror our diverse patient population and continues with opportunities throughout our program to connect with the communities that we serve, challenge ourselves to grow and refine our cultural humility, and create connection and belongingness amongst our team members.
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We believe firmly in graduated responsibility and are intentional in the construction of our curriculum to challenge our residents to grow at every step of their training. This process culminates in the fourth year, where senior residents oversee the entire Denver Health Emergency Department, leading resuscitations, overseeing junior residents and medical student learners, partnering with nursing leadership to manage flow, and providing medical direction across the city and county of Denver for the Denver Health Paramedic Division. As a graduate of our program, I can say that the PGY4 experience in our program cemented my confidence in managing whatever challenges may present themselves in emergency medicine.
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Our program is further strengthened by the commitment and dedication of our impressive faculty. With over one-hundred faculty members across our two main institutions, our residents work and learn from a diverse group of accomplished clinicians, educators, and academicians. With more than a dozen fellowship programs, our faculty have expertise in nearly every subspecialty of Emergency Medicine, not only allowing for immense opportunity following graduation, but contributing to a rich educational environment during training. Our commitment to education is further demonstrated in the innumerable teaching opportunities available to our residents throughout their training. These educational experiences not only cement our trainees’ expertise in emergency medicine but provide opportunity for growth as an educator and exposure to academic practice.
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Residency program leadership is committed to continuing to serve our patients, our residents, and our faculty through data-driven continuous improvement and innovation within the program. Despite being a historic program, we are constantly looking for opportunities to grow and improve in training the Emergency Medicine leaders of the future.
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