University of Iowa fellowship works with local emergency agencies to train EMS physicians

Melvin Donaldson picked up a college-level paramedic textbook from a used bookstore in Seattle when he was a teenager, and he read every page.

He was fascinated by emergency medicine then, and now, at 35, he works with several emergency response agencies in Iowa as an emergency medical services fellow through the University of Iowa. Those agencies include the Cedar Rapids Fire Department, Linn Area Ambulance Service, Johnson County Ambulance Service and the AirCare Emergency Transport crew at the UI.

Dr. Donaldson is currently the only person in the state with his job description because the UI has the only EMS fellowship in the state.

The program, which started in 2018 and has granted four fellowships before Donaldson’s, is designed to formally train physicians to work in emergency medical services by exposing them to several different aspects of that work, according to Dr. Azeemuddin Ahmed, the executive vice chair of the UI Department of Emergency Medicine and head of the fellowship program.

“My hope was to advance the care of EMS within our state, within our region, and across the country, to advance the quality of care and the cutting-edge nature of our care,” Ahmed said.

“When Dr. Donaldson achieves board certification, our program will have produced five board-certified EMS physicians to add to the group across our nation, whose ultimate goal is to improve the care that patients receive in the field — in their homes, at the roadside, at the shopping mall, wherever they are outside of a hospital.”

As an EMS fellow, Donaldson’s qualifications go beyond that of a regular emergency medical technician. He studied premed at the University of Washington and completed medical school at the University of Minnesota before completing three years of medical residency at the UI. After he completes his one-year fellowship, he will test to become a certified EMS physician.

Previous UI EMS fellows have gone on to work as emergency room physicians and medical directors of ambulance services and fire departments.

Donaldson always wanted to focus his career on emergency medicine, he said. As an undergrad, he started with friends Husky EMS, a student club at the University of Washington that, among other things, provided first aid tents at events.

The fellowship at the UI “really feels like an actualization of my dreams,” Donaldson said. “I have now found myself in a day-to-day career path where I’m excited for what’s next.”

As a fellow, Donaldson spends three days per week working with the different agencies that are part of his fellowship, and the rest of his time is spent on classwork and research projects. When working with the emergency response agencies, Donaldson goes on calls the agency responds to, as an extra set of hands.

  Buy Photo

“I’m not replacing any crew. There’s always a full complement of crew with me. So I’m there as an additional team member. I view myself that way, as a team member. I also have the additional skills to provide on-site medical control if needed,” Donaldson said.

“Paramedics and EMTs operate within their defined protocols, but, with some regularity, situations arise where they might benefit from speaking with one of the physicians. I’m on site and can do that in real time with them.”

Donaldson started his fellowship in July and will finish it in July 2024. He said he hopes to remain in Iowa afterward, and would love to become a UI faculty member.

“I’m not local, but my wife is. We met when I came down here for residency. So we’re hoping to settle in the area at least for a while. And I love the training environment and work and life here and in Cedar Rapids,” Donaldson said.

The EMS fellowship program is funded by the UI, which pays the fellows a salary and benefits and offers the opportunity to practice emergency medicine at a clinic and be compensated for it. The university usually gets between five and 10 applications each year for the position, according to Ahmed.

“We’re very appreciative of the relationships that we have with our agencies that train our fellow,” Ahmed said. “It’s truly been a win-win situation. … I think that we certainly benefit from the education that these agencies provide, but we’re grateful that we’re also able to give back to these agencies as well in the form of education and other support.”

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com