The Division of Emergency Medicine has been an academic unit within the College of Medicine since 2003. It is responsible for the medical direction of the Tampa General Hospital Emergency Care Center and the USF Emergency Medicine Residency Training Program. Most of the Emergency Medicine training occurs at TGH. USF Health includes the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health and Pharmacy and sponsors residency training in 42 specialties.

Mission

USF Emergency Medicine is committed to improving the lives of our patients through excellence in patient care, education, and research and by ensuring that all residents have the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and skills in an environment that allows them to reach their full potential.

Our History and Continued Commitment to Excellence

Our program was established in 2003 through the work of David Orban, MD, Tampa General Hospital, the University of South Florida and TEAMHealth. Kelly O’Keefe, MD was named program director and we have grown rapidly since that time. 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, 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 opened in 2007 and is a beautiful (and busy!) facility with mostly private rooms 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 physicians with careers in community emergency medicine, emerge ncy 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.

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 
• 2002 State Designation as a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center
• 2003 First Class of USF Emergency Medicine Residency
• 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
• 2017 Dr. Charlotte Derr named EM Residency Program Director
• 2019 Founding of the USF EM Division of Toxicology by Dr. Justin Arnold
• 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