Coming Soon! Cleveland Clinic Main Campus Emergency Medicine Residency Program*

Welcome

Welcome to the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus Emergency Medicine Residency Program!

We are excited to announce that our Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) application has been submitted, and our residency program is pending approval.

We have created an outstanding three-year Emergency Medicine residency training program where you will learn how to provide world-class emergency medical care across multiple practice environments. We are seeking to train nine residents per class. Come be a part of our first class of residents to start training in July of 2027!

At Cleveland Clinic Main Campus, you’ll learn to care for complex medical conditions from academic physicians with niches across the spectrum of emergency medicine, including ultrasound, critical care, EMS, sports medicine and more. Many of our faculty have held leadership positions across medical organizations and are excited to mentor new residents.

Additionally, our curriculum features a robust community emergency medicine experience, longitudinal pediatric care and high-quality ICU rotations. Weekly didactic sessions are interactive, engaging and will keep eager learners vested in their education. Graduating residents will be well prepared to work in any environment and excel in treating the diverse patient population that presents to the emergency department (ED).

Who we are

The Cleveland Clinic Main Campus Emergency Department provides care to over 64,000 patients annually. Highlights include:

• High-acuity patient population
• 31% Admission rate
• 10% Critically ill or injured patients
• Over 1,000 inpatient beds
• Cleveland Clinic is recognized in the U.S. and throughout the world for our expertise and care
• Nationally recognized and a global leader in cardiovascular care
• Daily exposure to patients with complicated oncologic, neurologic and transplant-related emergencies
• More than 120 medical and surgical subspecialty services
• Diverse patient population at multiple sites
• A large community/suburban patient base that reflects Cleveland Clinic’s evolution and growth in Northeast Ohio
• A local, urban neighborhood population surrounding Main Campus offers unique opportunities for personal growth as compassionate providers
• International patients with complex medical conditions “land” at the Main Campus ED
• Top-class facilities
• A recently refurbished 72-bed Main Campus ED + 10-bed observation unit
• Two large Level 2 trauma centers, located at Hillcrest and Fairview Hospitals, provide residents with opportunities to care for trauma patients in multiple environments
• Coming soon!
• A new Level 1 trauma center located at Main Campus will offer world-class trauma care

Invested in growth

Our team is truly invested in resident education and wellness. Our goal is to mentor and guide our residents along a fulfilling, long-term journey in their emergency medicine careers. Through individualized mentorship, structured feedback and integrated wellness activities, we’ll guide our residents toward their career goals.

Next steps

If you’re excited to be part of the future of emergency medicine, contact us directly to hear more about all we have to offer. Stay up to date with our residency by completing our interest form or email us at CleClinicEM@ccf.org.

We look forward to talking with you and hopefully meeting you soon!

Contact Us

Matt Kostura, MD – Program Director

Courtney Smalley, MD – Associate Program Director

Sam Perry, MD – Assistant Program Director

Amanda Wichie – Program Coordinator

Stay up to date with our residency by completing our interest form or email us at CleClinicEM@ccf.org.

Our Vision

Mission

To train clinically excellent emergency medicine physicians who provide world-class care to patients of all ages and backgrounds, who are adaptable to independently practice in any environment, and who have the skillset to be academic and clinical leaders of emergency medicine.

Aims

1. We will be recognized as a top-tier emergency medicine residency program that trains future physicians to excel in providing care in complex integrated healthcare systems and model collaboration with interprofessional teams, with the goal of independent practice being the core tenet of our training philosophy.
2. We will develop emergency physicians who are experts in managing critically ill and injured patients, with a training program that will focus on mastering resuscitation practices for simple and complex patient pathologies in both resource-intensive and resource-limited environments.
3. We will model and encourage an environment of adaptability, psychological safety, work-life balance and well-being for our emergency medicine residents, such that we train them for a productive and fulfilling career with longevity and job satisfaction in emergency medicine.
4. We will dedicate our educational didactics and hospital resources to train excellent educators by utilizing our teaching affiliations with multiple medical schools, interdisciplinary collaboration with other departments and ancillary staff, and teaching our residents to employ up-to-date evidence-based medicine so they provide the highest quality of care for our patients.
5. We will develop emergency physicians who are experts in neonatal and pediatric resuscitation by committing to a continuous, longitudinal pediatric experience with tiered levels of responsibility as our residents grow toward independent practice.
6. We will grow leaders in the field of emergency medicine by fostering academic advancement and mentorship at the local, regional and national level for our faculty and our trainees, encouraging them to serve the community inside and outside of the clinical environment.

Clinical Curriculum

Clinical Rotations

Our residency program offers hands-on training in a research-supported, immersive environment. Residents gain exposure to patients from all backgrounds during their ED blocks, with shifts at both Cleveland Clinic Main Campus and four high-volume community emergency departments.

Residents are well-supported during off-service rotations both at Main Campus and at community hospitals to gain in-depth knowledge of emergency medicine subspecialties and procedural skills. Each year is divided into 13 four-week blocks as outlined below.

Emergency Medicine Year 1

Objectives

• Focus on acquiring fundamental skills and solid knowledge base
• Develop an emergency medicine (EM)-focused differential diagnosis
• Become proficient in basic EM procedures

ED shifts

• 10-hour shifts at both Main Campus and community EDs
• 20 shifts over a 4-week period

PGY1 ED orientation month

We are excited to offer our PGY1 residents a true transition to residency. Upper-level residents will cover core shifts in the ED while PGY1 residents are added into the clinical schedule as swing shifts, giving them time to orient to the Cleveland Clinic system, workflow and electronic medical record. Additionally, PGY1 residents will participate in ultrasound bootcamp, procedural training and simulation activities to brush up on their skills before transitioning to full clinical months.

PGY1 Rotations

Emergency Medicine Year 2

Objectives

• Develop treatment plans for multiple patients simultaneously
• Focus on resuscitation of critically ill patients
• Perform safe and efficient patient dispositions

ED shifts

• 10-hour shifts at both Main Campus and community EDs
• 19 shifts over a 4-week period

PGY2 Rotations

Electives offered

• Administration
• Advanced Ultrasound
• Critical Care
• In-Depth EMS (Emergency Medical Services)
• Medical Education
• PIT (Physician in Triage) and Procedures
• Research
• Sports Medicine

Emergency Medicine Year 3

Objectives

• Independently resuscitate critically ill patients
• Efficiently manage multiple patients of varying acuity simultaneously
• Focus on overall emergency department throughput and patient flow

ED shifts

• 10-hour shifts at both Main Campus and community EDs
• 18 shifts over a 4-week period

PGY3 Rotations

Community Sites

Hillcrest Hospital

• Over 65,000 annual ED patients
• Level 2 Trauma Center
• Obstetric care
• Expanded adult and pediatric EDs
• Level III Neonatology Unit
• Comprehensive cardiac and cancer care
• Thrombectomy-capable stroke enter

Fairview Hospital

• Over 77,000 annual ED patients
• Level 2 Trauma Center
• Obstetric care
• Thrombectomy-capable stroke center

South Pointe Hospital

• Over 34,000 annual ED patients
• Cancer Program Accredited
• AHA/ASA Get with the Guidelines Stroke Silver Plus Honor Role

Avon Hospital

• Over 48,000 annual ED patients
• Primary stroke center
• AHA/ASA Get with the Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Honor Roll
• Geriatric Emergency Department Accredited
• EPA Energy Star Hospital
• LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader

Didactic Curriculum

Didactics

Our didactic curriculum aims to meet modern learners. We offer engaging weekly five-hour sessions of protected time from clinical duties for didactics. Our didactics go beyond basic PowerPoint presentations.

We’ll provide captivating presentations on core content topics combined with board-style review sessions at the end of every block topic. This reinforces the topics from the blocks and ensures that residents get the need-to-know information for certifying exams, along with clinical pearls that they can apply to the next shift.

But our learning doesn’t stop there. Our EM faculty leading the didactic curriculum will incorporate:

• Interactive small group sessions
• Simulation-based education days in our world-class Simulation Center and Cadaver Lab
• Morbidity and mortality conferences
• Joint conferences with other subspecialties and other local EM residencies
• Interactive evidence-based medicine thread curriculum
• Wellness curriculum
• Incorporation of videos, podcasts and virtual reality
• Regular board review prep sessions
• And more!

Our faculty is well-decorated with teaching awards, making didactics both interactive and fun. The overall curriculum repeats every 18 months, ensuring all residents have two opportunities to learn and review the core content, such that they become excellent emergency medicine physicians throughout their three-year training program.

Check out a sample of one month of our proposed didactic curriculum sessions.

Breakdown of 4 Week Block Topic Based Didactic Schedule

Faculty

Our Residency Leadership team, Core, Teaching and Clinical faculty at Cleveland Clinic provide residents and medical students with the highest quality education, both at the bedside and beyond. We’re excited to share with you our passion for education on shift, during didactics and at off-campus mentor/ mentee meetings.

If you’re a student interested in having our faculty do a teaching session for your emergency medicine-interested group meetings or medical school, please contact us at CleClinicEM@ccf.org.

Residency Leadership

Bradford Borden, MD
Department Chair

Thomas Waters, MD
Medical Director, Main Campus

Matthew Kostura, MD
Program Director
Niches: Resident Development, MedEd, Simulation, Airway, Podcasts

Courtney Smalley, MD
Associate Program Director/Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Emergency Medicine
Niches: Faculty Development, Ultrasound, Simulation, MedEd, Women in Emergency Medicine

Samuel Perry, MD
Assistant Program Director
Niches: EMS, MedEd, Flipped Classroom

Amanda Wichie
Program Coordinator

Core Faculty

Marina Boushra, MD
Director of Critical Care Education, Joint Faculty Critical Care/Emergency Medicine
Niches: Simulation, Critical Care, Ultrasound

Venkatesh Kambhampati, MD
Director of Medical Student Rotations, AI Director
Niches: MedEd, Ultrasound

Katherine Lang, DO
Director of Resident Ultrasound Education
Niches: Ultrasound

Sharon Mace, MD
Director of Research, Main Campus
Niches: Research, Pediatrics, Med Student Development

Stephen Meldon, MD
Co-Director Geriatric ED, Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine, CCF Florida
Niches: Geriatrics, Faculty Development

John Queen, MD
Core Faculty
Niches: Toxicology, Advocacy, MedEd

Teaching and Clinical Faculty

• Matthew Addis, MD
  Clinical Staff
• Iman Aly, MD
  Clinical Staff
• George Asaad, DO
  Associate Patient Experience Officer, Emergency Services
• Christopher Bazzoli, MD
  FAWM, DiMM — Wilderness EMS
• Achilles Bebos, MD
  Co-Director of Simulation Cadaver Lab
• Saurin Bhatt, MD
  International Operations
• Steven Blaha, MD
  Director Billing/Coding
• Eric Brader, MD
  Clinical Staff, American Academy of Emergency Medicine Board of Directors
• Steven Dorsey, MD
  Assistant Medical Director, Main Campus ED
• Raleigh Ems, MD
  Clinical Staff
• Lucy Franjic, MD
  Clinical Staff
• Bruce (Bryan) Graham, MD
  Medical Director of Virtual Emergency Medicine and Urgent Care
• Jack Graham, MD
  Ultrasound Faculty
• Travis Gullett, MD
  Associated Medical Director Critical Care Transport
• Dennis Guy, MD
  Clinical Staff
• Gregory Haun, DO
  International Operations
• Danielle Hoover, DO
  Clinical Staff
• Rafi Israeli, MD
  Director of Mobile Emergency Response Team
• Damon Kralovic, DO
  International Operations
• Joshua Kubit, MD
  Clinical Staff
• Valerie Lopez, MD
  Clinical Staff
• Donald Moffa, MD
  International Operations
• Martina McDermott, MD
  Ultrasound Faculty
• Lauren Moore, MD
  Faculty Critical Care
• James Morrison, MD
  Faculty Critical Care, Co-Chair Enterprise Steering Committee
• Jay Patel, MD
  Clinical Staff
• Michael Phelan, MD
  Research Faculty
• James Sauto, MD
  Director of EMS Education, Co-Director of Simulation Cadaver Lab
• Susan Schardt, MD
  Clinical Staff
• Somy Thottathil, MD
  Medical Director of Forensic Nursing Program

Salary and Benefits

Cleveland Clinic Emergency Medicine Residency Program

2025-2026 Salary & Benefits Plan (Effective May 16, 2025)

* Funding for the GME educational allowance will be issued concurrent with the trainee's academic year and must be spent on items purchased during that year. Educational allowance balances do not rollover from one academic year to the next, and any unused funds are forfeited at the end of an individual trainee's academic year. All expenses are subject to GME Educational Allowance Policy.

+ Offered for clinical trainees at a PGY-2 level or above to attend academic meetings for the purpose of presenting or engaging in leadership roles within national societies.

View more details about benefits and financial highlights:

• Benefit highlights
• Financial highlights

Acting Internships and Application

Acting Internship

Cleveland Clinic Main Campus is accepting acting internships for 4th year medical students from US medical schools.  Included in the rotation are a dedicated Cadaver Lab as well as an Ultrasound Workshop. Experience working at a major academic and quaternary care institution in a large urban setting. All students selected for an acting internship will be granted a residency interview.

• View more information about our acting internship
• Apply for an acting internship

Our acting internship is listed as EMMD 4007C “Emergency Medicine A.I.”

Questions about our acting internship? Email us below:
Clerkship Director: Venk Kambhampati, MD, FACEP
kambhav@ccf.org

Questions about the applications process? Email us below:
CCF AI & Elective Coordinator: Andrea Beyer
beyera@ccf.org

Questions about doing ED research as a Medical Student? Email us below:
Director of Research, Main Campus: Sharon Mace, MD
maces@ccf.org

Apply to Our Residency Program

Coming Soon!

If our program is ACGME-approved this summer, we look forward to our residency being listed in ResidencyCAS.

If you would like to be updated when our program is officially listed, please fill out our interest form.

Living in Cleveland

Cleveland is a great place to live and train!

Cleveland is home to the second-largest theater district in the U.S., a park system featuring 23,700 acres in 18 reservations, and is the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll, home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Cleveland Clinic is located near the University Circle area, which is the cultural epicenter of Cleveland. This area features Severance Hall, with the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra, the award-winning Cleveland Museum of Art, several other engaging museums and the beautiful Case Western Reserve University.

Downtown Cleveland is home to many major sports venues, including professional baseball, basketball, football and women’s basketball (coming soon in 2028). There’s an exciting culinary scene in downtown Cleveland and in many of Cleveland’s local neighborhoods, where you can enjoy flavors from across the globe.

Downtown is approximately two miles from Cleveland Clinic Main Campus.

• Learn more about the city we call home.

The four seasons in Cleveland are wonderful to experience. Residents can enjoy the outdoors with the full variety of what nature has to offer. Whether skiing outside of Cuyahoga Valley National Park in winter, biking the Ohio & Erie Towpath or Emerald Necklace in spring, fishing or boating on Lake Erie in summer, or enjoying the colors of fall while hiking in the Metroparks, there’s always something to do in the CLE.

MetroHealth Residency

CWRU/Metrohealth/Cleveland Clinic EM Residency Program

Although we will be a new residency, we aren’t new to residency training. We have been a participating training site for the CWRU/MetroHealth/Cleveland Clinic EM Residency program for over 25 years. Our faculty are well-versed in bedside teaching and residency training.

As our new Cleveland Clinic Main Campus Residency Program builds in a stepwise fashion, you’ll train alongside senior residents from the CWRU/MetroHealth/Cleveland Clinic EM Residency Program (see FAQ for details). We’re excited to collaborate with MetroHealth and other emergency medicine residencies throughout Northeast Ohio to share resources, participate in combined didactic conferences and engage in shared opportunities, even after the clinical relationship with MetroHealth completely separates in July 2029.

Class of 2027

Tiffany Aliberti, MD
NEOMED

Nick Bourque, DO
Ohio University

Sarah Condio, DO
Idaho College

Christopher Davis, DO
Philadelphia College

Bryce Fetterman, MD
NEOMED

Laine Goff, MD
Murthy NEOMED

Dayton Hardway, DO
Ohio University

Emily Hessler, DO
Ohio University

Darpan Kaur, MD
University of Toledo

Cory Ohradzansky, DO
Ohio University

Sierra Ohrn, DO
Liberty University

Nicole Weis, MD
University of Toledo

Jacob Welch, DO
Idaho College

Class of 2028

Diana Albaba, MD
NEOMED

Maddie Buehler, DO
Ohio University

Eric Burguera-Counce, MD
Case Western Reserve University

Tommy Gautier, MD
CWRU - Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

Pam Pam Gwo, MD
Case Western Reserve University

Elizabeth Hennessy, MD
Creighton University

Matthew Jajowka, DO
Ohio University

Jennifer Lee, MD
RUSH Medical College

Jimmy Meade, MD
University of Toledo

Gabriel Moss, MD
University of Toledo

Rachel Wilson, DO
West Virginia SOOM

Steven Wisniewski, DO
Ohio University

FAQs

Are you an ACGME-approved residency?

Not yet, but our application is submitted and we anticipate hearing back on a decision in September 2026. If you want us to email you when we are ACGME approved and available to apply to in ResidencyCAS, complete our interest form.

What is unique about your residency program?

We have a truly unique patient population at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus with complex medical problems and rare conditions who present with acute emergencies. Additionally, our curriculum offers high-quality training in critical care, a longitudinal pediatric experience, a high-acuity community experience, engaging didactics to meet the modern learner, excellent bedside teaching and mentorship by EM physicians who are leaders in their field, and a collaborative, team-based ED environment.

Is there graduated responsibility?

As an intern, you can see any patient who walks in the door. All residents (including interns) staff patients directly with an EM attending. Our attending staffing model allows us to tailor the amount of bedside guidance based on the resident’s needs. This allows us to more closely supervise interns who may need it on critically ill patients, as well as allow senior residents to focus on independent management as they’re ready.

Is Cleveland Clinic Main Campus a Level 1 Trauma Center?

Not yet, but plans on are in the works to become a Level 1 Trauma Center in 2028. We’re excited for this opportunity to supplement an outstanding educational experience for our residents, which already includes seeing trauma patients at two high-volume Level 2 Trauma centers during their community ED and trauma rotations.

What kind of wellness activities do you offer?

Being a well-balanced EM physician is part of our core residency mission. We have wellness activities integrated into our didactic sessions, and residents have access to Cleveland Clinic’s many well-being programs as part of the benefit package. Residents can also participate in organized off-campus social gatherings, including dinners, hikes, sporting events and whatever new ideas they submit to residency leadership.

How is the interaction with ED ancillary staff?

We strongly believe that emergency medicine is the ultimate team sport. We have an amazing team of nurses, respiratory therapists, medics, EMTs, health unit coordinators, ED pharmacists, social workers, case managers, radiology techs, patient transporters, environmental services staff, registration personnel, physicians and more who all play an integral role in achieving high-quality patient care. We pick each other up when we need it and celebrate our victories. It’s truly an outstanding team to be a part of at Main Campus ED. We hope you join us next July and get to experience it firsthand!

What kind of scholarly projects do residents participate in for research?

Each core and teaching faculty has an academic niche and is excited to get residents involved with research and academic work. Prior publications from our faculty have included journal articles, posters, regional and national presentations, podcasts and book chapters. We have published on topics of ultrasound, medical education, geriatrics, evidence-based medicine, climate health, simulation and more. There are even opportunities for residents and medical students to be a part of larger industry-sponsored research and interprofessional projects.

How will the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus EM resident ED shifts transition with the current MetroHealth residents?

If we’re ACGME approved this summer, the new Cleveland Clinic Main Campus EM Residency will have a phased transition with the current combined CWRU/MetroHealth/Cleveland Clinic EM Residency. Resident shifts at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus ED will transition in a stepwise manner as follows.

The incoming class of interns in July of 2027 will work Main Campus shifts with PGY2 and PGY3 residents from the MetroHealth/Cleveland Clinic Combined program.

In July of 2028, Cleveland Clinic Main Campus EM PGY1 and PGY2 residents and PGY3 residents of the MetroHealth/Cleveland Clinic Combined program will cover resident shifts at Main Campus.

Starting July 2029, Cleveland Clinic Main Campus EM residents will cover all resident shifts at Main Campus as the two programs completely separate. At this time, there aren’t any plans for residents in the proposed Cleveland Clinic Main Campus EM Residency to work in MetroHealth ED.

Do residents get enough procedures to graduate?

Absolutely! Our curriculum at Main Campus and the participating sites was carefully designed based on volume and acuity, allowing for ample opportunities for residents to learn the core emergency medicine procedures in multiple ED environments. Standard across all EDs is that the residents have ownership and first opportunity to do any procedure needed on their ED patients. Additionally, our world-class Simulation Center and Cadaver Lab offer opportunities for residents to practice rare procedures and get some more repetitions on the common ones.

Interest Form

Please complete the form below for residency updates and to be notified when our program is ACGME approved and available to apply to in ResidencyCAS.  If you submit a question, we will respond within 3 business days.