First Emergency and Family Medicine residency program graduate exemplifies a synergy of two disciplines

Christiana Care’s innovative, combined Emergency Medicine/Family Medicine (EM/FM) allopathic residency program, the first of its kind in the nation, salutes its first graduate this year.

Blake Gustafson, M.D., chief EM-FM resident, in July 2007 began the new program, heralded as a comprehensive curriculum to address the full spectrum of patient illness and injury, from emergent and trauma care to primary care and continuity of care.

Five years ago, the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Board of Family Medicine signed off on a dual certification program combining Family and Emergency Medicine residencies at Christiana Care. The program offers two residency spots each year, and the curriculum blends academic and practical components, including rotations in both Family and Emergency medicine, which already have similar rotations at Christiana Care, especially in the first year of their respective categorical programs.

“Blake is the first graduate of the nation’s first combined Emergency-Family Medicine training program,” said Neil Jasani, M.D., Emergency Medicine Residency Program director. “He exemplifies the synergy between Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine.

“We are excited and delighted that Dr. Gustafson will remain at Christiana Care as an attending physician and to help ensure the future success of our EM/FM program,” adds Lisa Maxwell, M.D., director of Christiana Care’s Family Medicine Residency Program.