Louisiana State University School of Medicine Program

Program Identity & Fit

LSU's Spirit of Charity is a historic, safety-net academic EM program rooted in the legacy of Charity Hospital, now training at University Medical Center, a Level I trauma center serving as New Orleans' sole safety-net hospital across 91,000+ annual ED visits and 3,653 trauma activations. The four-year curriculum emphasizes graduated autonomy through its Charge Resident System, where senior residents independently run a 14-bed section, lead trauma resuscitations, manage airways, and serve as EMS medical control, alongside dedicated rural (Lallie Kemp critical access hospital) and pediatric (Children's Hospital, Our Lady of the Lake) rotations across seven distinct clinical sites. The program has pioneered a Social Emergency Medicine curriculum and sub-specialty track examining social determinants of health, community outreach, and health equity, reflecting an institutional identity built around caring for the underserved regardless of ability to pay. With combined EM-IM and one of four national EM-Peds programs, extensive teaching responsibilities (nearly 400 rotating students annually), and 22 weeks of elective/selective time, the program values procedural independence, leadership under high clinical volume, and commitment to safety-net and underserved care over research output.