Dear Residents & Prospective Residents,

As you may know, there was a very premature release of information this week announcing the introduction of a proposed new advance practice provider (APP) Emergency Medicine (EM) education pathway.

To be clear: UNC does not have an APP EM education pathway, and no pathway will be introduced this year.

As is our practice with all major department initiatives, any future discussion about an advanced education pathways for APPs will be developed in partnership with EM residents and faculty.

Please know that the release of this information was extremely premature and inaccurate. It had always been our plan to introduce a proposal for an APP emergency medicine education pathway to residents and faculty in a person-to-person setting at a future date so we could provide background, take questions and solicit input. We sincerely apologize for causing concern among our own residents and prospective residents.

Misinformation Shared

In addition to the timing miscue, there has also been a spread of misinformation about a proposed APP education pathway or “residency.” Inaccurate information online indicated that these APP learners would be paid more than emergency medicine residents. This is not true and would never be true. If you see social media posts to this effect, please feel free to quote me in correcting this mischaracterization.

We Support APPs Education & Training

The UNC Department of Emergency Medicine advocates for our emergency department patients to be cared for by the best-trained clinician teams. UNC welcomes the opportunity to collaboratively determine how best to train APPs to support emergency physicians in patient care.

Why Match with UNC?

My direct answer is that the UNC Emergency Medicine Residency program offers the highest level of emergency medicine training to prepare you for your career, as future leaders of Emergency Medicine. We are a community of passionate educators who care deeply for our students and residents.

We’re Listening

On Sunday, February 23, UNC EM leadership held a face-to-face meeting to provide a briefing to residents but, most importantly, listen to their concerns. As a department, we value collaboration and transparency.

Again, we apologize for creating concern. Please share your input and questions by emailing me directly.

Nikki Binz, MD, FACEP

Director, Emergency Medicine Residency Program

Clinical Associate Professor

Email: nbinz@med.unc.edu