Our mission is to be recognized as leaders in the field of Social Emergency Medicine by passionately promoting health for anyone at anytime in any place through innovative emergency medicine. We are committed to creating a world where our collective passion brings forth the next generation of breakthroughs to make the world a better place. This is our vision of the future. Our patients, our community, ourselves. Health. For all of us.

Our Emergency Medicine faculty serve in multiple leadership roles within the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians (ICEP), American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), and in our Center for Global Health.

We are actively studying interventions introduced in the emergency department to reduce the prevalence of high blood pressure (AHEAD2), provide proper pain management for sickle cell patients (ISAAC), and reduce homelessness in our community (Making Homelessness History/Better Health Through Housing).

We strive to move the field of Social Emergency Medicine forward through engagement and education in our communities such as our state-wide Illinois Heart Rescue Program, integration of a neighborhood-specific community health and empowerment workforce made up of local high school students and future health professionals (CHAMPIONS NETWork), and physician and student led community interventions targeting uncontrolled hypertension (CTOUCH).

We continue to implement innovative programs to increase and promote routine HIV and HCV screening in our emergency department and across UI Health (Project HEAL). Through increased awareness, education, and training we have identified 120 HIV and 99 HCV positive individuals over the past three years and linked them to necessary care.

With one of the most Established Emergency Medicine residency training programs in the nation, our faculty have over 30 years of experience producing outstanding emergence physicians. Our graduates span every corner of the country and have distinguished themselves in many leadership positions. Residents and medical students in our program learn to serve their communities through service, leadership, and innovation.

I welcome you to take the time to learn more about our service to the community, our residency program, our grants and the people who have made our department a success.

Dr. Terry Vanden Hoek, Department Chair and Chief of Service
Department of Emergency Medicine
College of Medicine
University of Illinois at Chicago