Prepare to care for anyone, in any setting.
Across four hospitals, UIC residents develop the clinical experience, judgment, and commitment to health equity that emergency medicine demands.
Welcome to emergency medicine. Our mission is to train the next generation of EM physicians who are not only outstanding clinicians but also have the experience and passion to care for anyone at any time in any situation. All EM residents receive good training, so what makes UIC unique? Experience, multiple training sites, and an unparalleled drive toward health equity.
Read Dr. Bunney’s full welcome message.
We Have Always Been a Program
We Have Always Been a Program That Utilizes Multiple Sites For Training
We began as a three-hospital group and are now a four-hospital consortium comprising The University of Illinois Hospital (UIC), Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, and Little Company of Mary Hospital. This is a distinctive model for training emergency medicine (EM) residents, offering tremendous benefits. Each hospital has a unique patient population, ranging from Tertiary care to significant health disparities, from urban, multicultural settings to large community/suburban areas. These different patient populations provide a foundation of experience that allows residents to choose the population they wish to serve for their careers. We believe this enriched variety of patients is as important in a resident’s development as anything learned on a blog or podcast. In addition to the variety of patient populations offered by the multisite system, the number of faculty and mentors available to residents is also significantly increased. While we have a formal mentorship program, the one-on-one time spent with an attending on shift often has some of the highest impact on resident learning and experience. Graduates routinely mention the multisite system as the “best preparation for that first job that anyone could have.”
Health Equity has been a Cornerstone
Our residency program has been integral to our university’s mission for decades. The research division of our department focuses on projects that aim to improve population health and raise the standard of emergency care. Much of this work is conducted outside the walls of the ED, in the community where our patients reside. Some of these projects are described below. We have developed a fellowship program in Health Equity that was born out of a health equity track within the residency program. Many of our residents and graduates have worked on the projects listed below. As the momentum for health equity has grown, so has the number of faculty members in our department concentrating on improving community health. Equity is not just about our patients; it also involves the physicians we recruit and hire. We have one of the nation’s most diverse faculties; our residency classes also mirror this diversity.
Emergency Medicine is a Rapidly Evolving Field
UIC emergency medicine is at the forefront of training and innovation and truly enjoys leading the educational advances that will continue to make medical school graduates outstanding emergency physicians.
Brad Bunney, M.D., Residency Program Director
Our Distinctive Multi-Site Training Model
Residents train at four hospitals across Chicago and its suburbs, gaining experience in academic and community emergency departments that serve different patient populations. Together, the sites see more than 200,000 emergency visits each year.
Training sites include the University of Illinois/UI Health, Little Company of Mary Medical Center, Illinois Masonic Medical Center, and Lutheran General Hospital, named one of ‘America’s 50 Best’ by Healthgrades in 2025.
Our Distinctive Multi-Site Training Model
OUR CULTURE
Our Culture
Advocacy is central to the way we train and practice emergency medicine. We prepare residents to care for people from many backgrounds, to recognize the social and structural conditions affecting their health, and to work with communities beyond the emergency department. We also value the different experiences and perspectives residents bring to that work.
That commitment extends to the residents themselves. Weekly protected didactics, mentorship, wellness programming, and time together outside the hospital give residents room to learn, build relationships, and support one another through training.
BROWNCOAT NATION
Our Ethos
First introduced at our earliest rotation sites—Illinois Masonic, Lutheran General, and Mercy—UIC emergency medicine residents stood out by wearing brown lab coats instead of the traditional white. This intentional choice distinguished them from other trainees in the hospital.
Over time, the brown coat became a symbol of excellence and pride, deeply rooted in our program’s identity. Since 1981, it has represented a defining tradition for our residents and laid the foundation for what is now proudly known as BrownCoat Nation.
A brown coat is
A brown coat is not an article of clothing; it represents membership in a warm, welcoming family and portrays someone who trains hard to heal others, who has my back and whose back I’ve got. A BrownCoat is kindness, grit, smarts, jokes, passion, friendship, inclusiveness, and forgiveness. A BrownCoat is a family.
| Emergency Physician and Clinical Informatics Fellow at UNC
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