Emergency Health Care
Course Syllabus
Prerequisites: BISC 220L or 221L, and CHEM 103 or 105a, and MEDS 220 and MEDS 320.
Units: 2 units,
Classes TBD
LAC+USC Medical Center
1200 North State Street
General Hospital 1350
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Course Directors:
Madhu Hardasmalani, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
Course Co-ordinator : Kellyn Pak, RN, MICN, MSN,CEN
Office Hours:
Dr. Hardasmalani
Wednesday 4-5pm or email em_sjmc@hotmail.com,
323-226-7868.
Introduction and Purpose:
The objective of this course is to introduce the principles of emergency medical services to the students. Emergency
Medicine personnel treat a wide variety of illnesses ranging from minor injuries and illnesses to providing advanced
life saving care. Students will be introduced to the entire gamut of Emergency Medicine ranging from prehospital
care to the medical care in the Emergency department. Students will get an opportunity to interact not only with
Emergency Medicine physicians but also prehospital care providers. Each session will consist of an interactive
didactic lecture followed by simulation scenario when applicable. Students will learn basic life support and CPR
(cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on high fidelity simulation mannequins. At the conclusion of the course, students
will have an understanding of emergency medical care and its role in the community. In addition students will have
knowledge of career opportunities in the field of Emergency Medicine.
Required text/readings:
Students will be provided with reading material on the first day of the course. Students are
expected to read the material before each class in order to discuss the assigned reading. Students are
not required to purchase any material online. Students are expected to participate in simulation
sessions.
Teaching Methodologies:
Teaching methods include lecture, discussion, video presentation, case studies, high and low fidelity
simulation, and demonstration of skills.
Grading scale:
A
94-100
A90-93
B+
87-89
B
83-86
B80-82
C+
77-79
C
75-76
D
68-74
F
68 or less
Grading Breakdown:
Class participation: 10%
Midterm presentation: 45%.
Final Exam: 45%.
Attendance Policy:
Attendance is mandatory. An excused absence may be obtained for illness, personal emergencies or religious
holidays by calling the course director before the date of the absence. An unexcused absence will be reflected in the
overall course grade.
For those who cannot attend the final exam/presentation must notify the instructor before the class and must
schedule a make-up exam/presentation within 1 week. Those who do not call or reschedule will receive zero credit.
Midterm Presentation requirements:
Students will sign up on the first day of class for a research topic related to Emergency Medicine and present
evidence-based literature in groups of 4. All students are required to present their own original work in a creative
manner within a maximum 20 minute time frame. Presentations must include literature references. Students are
encouraged to use the campus libraries and the internet (e.g. PubMed, OVID) to find appropriate background
information and references. The references used should published from primary journal articles from the biomedical literature, rather than books, textbooks, unpublished opinions from the internet (e.g. NO Wikipedia), or
popular magazines. Grading criteria for the midterm presentation are as follows:
Presentation delivery/creativity: 30%.
Content: 45%
Evidence-based literature utilized appropriately: 25%
Final Exam format:
The final exam consists of a 40-question multiple choice exam. Exam questions are related to the information
provided in the presentations and handouts of each class session. The exam will start promptly at the beginning of
the class for duration of 60 minutes. Late arrivals will be permitted to take the exam, but all exam papers will be
collected 60 minutes from the beginning of class. Regarding absences on the day of the final exam refer to the
Attendance Policy section. Grading scale for the final exam will be based on the correct responses to the multiple
choice questions.
Grade:
Correct responses
A
38-40.
A35-37.
B+
32-34.
B29-31.
C+
26-28.
C
24-25.
D
21-23.
F
20/less.
Course Schedule:
Lecture
Week 1
History of Emergency Medicine and
“The C-booth”: What is Emergency Medicine?
Pre-reading
assignment
As assigned
What are the components of Emergency Medical
Services? Discuss the hustle-bustle of central
resuscitation area at Los Angeles County hospital.
Week 2
Pre-hospital Emergency Medical
Services: Discuss the role and responsibility of
prehospital emergency personnel. Discuss different
tiers of prehospital services.
CPR, BLS
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Disaster Medicine: What is Disaster Medicine?
Discuss health care to disaster survivors. Discuss
disaster planning, response and recovery.
Drugs and Toxins: Discuss common poisonings.
Discuss latest designer drugs and abuse.
Pediatric Emergencies: Discuss anatomic and
physiologic differences between adults and children.
Discuss common newborn and childhood illnesses
Financial aspects of Emergency
Medicine: Discuss economic costs of emergency
departments and its financial contribution to the
hospital.
Emergency Trauma care: What constitutes
trauma center? Operations of trauma center.
Introduction to management of blunt and penetrating
trauma.
Midterm Presentations
Wilderness Medicine: Discuss common
environmental emergencies, Discuss first aid and
secondary care to victims of wilderness pathology.
Sports Emergencies: Introduction to emergency
care in different sports. Discuss common issues like
concussion, orthopedic injuries. Briefly discuss
cardiac issues in sporting activities.
Ultrasound in Emergency Medicine: Use
of ultrasound as an effective diagnostic tool. Discuss
focus assessment with sonography in trauma.
Geriatric Emergencies: Discuss unique aspects
of geriatric medicine. Discuss social and psychosocial
issues in geriatric emergencies.
Forensics in Emergency Medicine:
As assigned
As assigned
As assigned
As assigned
As assigned
As assigned
As assigned
As assigned
As assigned
As assigned
Importance of forensic investigation in suspected
abuse and homicidal cases. Briefly discuss intimate
partner violence.
Week 14
Psychiatric Emergencies: Discuss clinical
As assigned
aspects of psychiatry in emergency medicine. Discuss
management of common psychiatric emergencies.
Week 15
Final Exam
Careers in Emergency Medicine
/Review: Panel discussion of various branches of
emergency medicine and career options.
Statement for Students with Disabilities
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability
Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained
from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located
in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 7400776.
Statement on Academic Integrity
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the
concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted
unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse
by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide
by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while
the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A: http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov/.
Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review,
should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at:
http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/..
Emergency Preparedness/Course Continuity:
In case of emergency, and travel to campus is difficult, USC executive leadership will announce an electronic way
for instructors to teach students in their residence halls or homes using a combination of Blackboard,
teleconferencing, and other technologies. Instructors should be prepared to assign students a "Plan B" project that
can be completed at a distance. For additional information about maintaining your classes in an emergency please
access: http://cst.usc.edu/services/emergencyprep.html