Department History
Our History & Continued Commitment to Excellence
Our program was established in 2003 as a Division. We reached academic Department status in 2024 and became a service line across the academic medical system in 2025. Our faculty are leaders in EM and push the specialty forward. Our maturation has allowed the addition of fellowships in ultrasound, EMS, critical care, administration as well as over 50 faculty members with specialization in simulation, research, medical education, toxicology, disaster medicine, ultrasonography, social medicine, EMS, sport medicine and pediatrics. The 3 year residency program has 30 residents and is located at Tampa General Hospital, a Level 1 urban tertiary care and regional burn center with over 120,000 visits per year and over 1,000 beds with 60% of all hospital admissions coming through the emergency department doors.
The ED facility opened in 2007 with specialties and imaging available 24 hours a day. Nearby in downtown Tampa, we have our state of the art simulation center (CAMLS) for advanced case based and procedural training. We have a curriculum that values resident feedback and trains our residents to become excellent physician leaders with careers in community emergency medicine, emergency administration and academic practice through a emphasis on leadership, teaching and business of EM training bolstered by exceptional didactics, research, and international opportunities. There is a strong focus on critical care from day one and by the end of resident training, we have created competent and confident physicians ready to take care of any patient. Our faculty are world class experts in their areas of specialty. The faculty are supported by a robust administrative team to ensure success when seeking external funding, innovation and research.
Important Milestones
1985 Designation of TGH as a Level 1 Trauma Center
1985 Designation of TGH as a State Burn Center
1987 Designation of TGH as a State Poison Control Center
1988 Aeromed Helicopter LifeFlight program based at TGH is inaugurated
1996 USF and TGH establish the Emergency Medical Care Center
2000 USF Establishes a full academic Division of Emergency Medicine
2000 David Orban, MD serves as Division Chief
2002 State Designation as a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center
2003 First Class of USF Emergency Medicine Residency.
2003 Kelly O'Keefe, MD serves as inaugural Program Director
2005 Founding of the Emergency Medicine Administrative Fellowship by Dr. Orban
2007 USF EM Residency expands to 10 Residents per year
2007 Founding of the USF EMS Fellowship by Dr. Catherine Carrubba
2008 Designation as a STEMI Receiving Center
2010 Designation as a Primary Stroke Center
2010 Founding of the Ultrasound Fellowship by Dr. Charlotte Derr
2012 Founding of the USF EMS Fellowship by Dr. Catherine Carrubba
2013 Founding of the USF EM Division of Research by Dr. Jason Wilson
2015 Dr. Jason Wilson named Director of TGH Office of Clinical Research
2015 Founding of the USF Critical Care Medicine Fellowship
2016 Opening of the TGH Brandon Healthplex – Freestanding ED. Dr. Reginald Saint-Hillaire named Medical Director of the Freestanding ED
2017 Dr. Charlotte Derr named EM Residency Program Director
2019 Dr. Justin Arnold named medical director of Florida Poison Control
2020 Founding of the USF EM Simulation Fellowship by Dr. Ryan McKenna
2022 Dr. Jason Wilson named Division Chief of Emergency Medicine
2023 Dr. Heather Henderson named Director of Social Emergency Medicine
2023 Opening of TGH Kennedy ED - the second freestanding ED
2023 Dr. John Kiel named founding Sports Medicine Section Director. Expansion of primary care sports medicine faculty to include three EM sports medicine fellowship trained faculty.
2023 Expansion of Toxicology Faculty to include three fellowship trained toxicologists
2023 Dr. David Wein becomes first EM Medical Staff Officer, stepping into the role of Secretary, TGH MSO
2023 Dr. Jason Wilson elected Chief of Emergency Medicine, Tampa General Hospital
2024 Started the first EM Sports Medicine Outpatient Clinic at Morsani College of Medicine
2024 Started the first EM BRIDGE Outpatient Clinic at TGH Healthpark Specialty Center
2024 USF Emergency Medicine became an independent Department of Emergency Medicine at the Morsani College of Medicine
2024 Launch of the Florida Center for EMS in the Department of Emergency Medicine (located at CAMLS) under the leadership of Executive Director Bruce Moeller, PhD
2025 David Wein, MD, MBA named Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs
2025 Haru Okuda, MD named Vice Chair of Academic Affairs
2025 Roland Clay Merchant, MD, MPH, ScD named Vice Chair of Research
2025 TGH forms Emergency Services Institute
2025 Inpatient Medical Toxicology Consult Service at Tampa General Hospital
2026 Inpatient Addiction Medicine Service at Tampa General Hospital
2026 USF EM Residency expanded to 13 Residents per year
2026 Outpatient Medical Toxicology Clinic at TGH Healthpark Specialty Center
2027 Fellowship in Medical Toxicology (First in State of Florida)