St. Lawrence Health (SLH) is looking for its next round of providers who are interested in taking part in its Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Emergency Medicine Internship program.
SLH will begin accepting applications starting November 1, 2023 and continue through April 2024 for this cycle. The two-year postgraduate specialty training is geared toward graduating Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner students, as well as more seasoned APPs looking to go into Emergency and Urgent Care medicine.
The program is being overseen by SLH Director of Emergency Medicine Services Justin MacKinnon, MD; and Emergency Department Education Medical Director Bruce Grattan, DO. Interns will gain extended knowledge by working in the Canton-Potsdam Hospital Emergency Department, which is a Level III Trauma Center; and through the Massena Hospital Emergency Department, as well as within the Canton and Potsdam Urgent Care centers.
“The APP internship has been an integral part of SLH for the past four to five years. SLH was an early adopter of such specialized postgraduate training; a nationwide trend which will likely increase in the future,” Dr. Grattan said.
“This program provides qualified applicants with the technical skills, multi-disciplinary experience and training required to deliver compassionate and high-quality emergency care,” he added.
“This is truly a fantastic opportunity for a candidate with an interest in Emergency Medicine,” Dr. MacKinnon said. “The breadth of knowledge needed to successfully practice in the Emergency Department and Urgent Care can be overwhelming for a new graduate or someone who has practiced in another area of medicine. While this is undoubtedly a rigorous curriculum, our interns graduate as confident and competent providers.”
The internship includes specialty rotations and regular didactics to provide additional training, and to prepare candidates to be successful on the Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) examination.
Dr. Grattan explained the CAQ is a standard benchmark certification which represents a highly qualified healthcare provider with specialty training and experience. Many health systems use this as a requirement, and SLH has made this one of the goals for its interns.
“Each clinical site utilized in the program has its own nuances which strengthen one's clinical insight. St. Lawrence Health implements a patient-centered and team-based approach to medicine. Providing our interns with the opportunity to learn from and work with a variety of teams at each site will help foster this interdisciplinary approach, and enhance learning and patient care,” Dr. Grattan said.
“By rotating through different sites with differing resources, best practices from each can be implemented system-wide, where learning opportunities are abundant,” he continued.
It is not a requirement for graduates of the internship program to continue working at SLH upon completion of the program; however, in the past many have chosen to do so.
“This is a testament to the dynamic and collaborative work environment which we have fostered at SLH, as well as the many opportunities which are available to graduates,” Dr. Grattan said.
