Chattanooga Emergency Medicine Fellowships
Emergency Medical Services Fellowship
UT Health Sciences College of Medicine – Chattanooga proudly offers an ACGME-accredited Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Fellowship.
This is the first accredited EMS fellowship in Tennessee and continues to be a valuable learning opportunity for physicians interested in pre-hospital medicine and transport medicine.
The fellowship is a one-year program covering all aspects of EMS practice.
Each section of the program emphasizes a different aspect of EMS with related readings and text assignments, including:
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- Pre-hospital experience: major time in the pre-hospital response and setting
- Didactic sessions: held weekly to discuss each topic and facilitated by core faculty
- Journal Club: organized and presented by the fellow and held at a faculty member's house or as a night out with faculty (depending on work schedules)
- Mentorship: by assigned core faculty mentors
Fellows are also expected to continue practicing clinically (a monthly obligation of four clinical shifts) in the ED at Erlanger Health System.
The monthly schedule is flexible to meet the individual fellow’s needs. After completing all orientation and training, the fellow typically has most monthly meetings on Tuesday mornings, a 12-hour flight shift on Wednesdays, and weekly didactics on Thursday mornings. All other days are free for ground response with Hamilton County EMS, research/teaching, responding to SWAT or search and rescue calls, or additional ED shifts (with pay) as desired. Weekends are usually free unless working in the ED or on a call-out.
Program Links:
Recruiting Links:
EMS Fellowship Director
EMS Fellowship Director Dr. Frank Tift graduated summa cum laude from Wake Forest University and earned his doctorate from Medical College of Georgia. Upon completion of his Emergency Medicine residency at Georgetown University, he came to Chattanooga for EMS Fellowship.
He is board certified in Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services from the American Board of Emergency Medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and the National Association of EMS Physicians.
Dr. Tift is actively involved with multiple EMS agencies serving Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina. He serves as the Assistant Medical Director for Erlanger Health System's award-winning LIFE FORCE Air Medical Service, named Flight Program of the Year in 2024 by the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS).
Dr. Tift holds the rank of Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine with UTHSC College of Medicine-Chattanooga.
EMS Fellowship Applicants
Applicants interested in the EMS Fellowship should send the following materials to the EMS Fellowship Director:
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- CV;
- Personal Statement;
- Letters of Recommendation:
- 1 from your residency Program Director (required)
- 1 from an EMS physician you have worked with (preferred but optional)
For more information contact:
Dr. Frank Tift, EMS Fellowship Director
frank.tift@erlanger.org
Advanced Emergency Ultrasonography Fellowship
Our AEMUS Fellowship is a one-year, non-ACGME accredited program sponsored by the Department of Emergency Medicine and our Emergency Medicine Residency. The program holds Continuing Accreditation from the Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Accreditation Council (EUFAC) and participates in the NRMP Emergency Medicine Fellowship Match.
Graduates who are board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) are eligible to sit for the ABEM Advanced Emergency Medicine Ultrasonography Focused Practice Designation (FPD) exam.
Learn more about our program, team, and life in Chattanooga on our fellowship site, utaemus.com.
Meet Our Ultrasound Team
Ultrasound Program Director Dr. Elijah Wyatt is a board certified emergency medicine physician and holds the ABEM Focused Practice Designation in Advanced Emergency Medicine Ultrasonography. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. He completed his Emergency Medicine Residency and AEMUS Fellowship here in Chattanooga and served as chief resident. In addition to mentoring fellows, residents, and students, Dr. Wyatt is an instrumental contributor to CoreUltrasound.com. He has a passion for ultrasound physics and has developed tools for physics education, most notably Ultrasound System Physics, a 26-chapter course with interactive animations designed to improve understanding, available at utaemus.com/physics.
Dr. Wyatt holds the rank of Clinical Instructor of Emergency Medicine with the College of Medicine – Chattanooga. He is the Clerkship Director for Clinical Ultrasound and currently serves as Interim Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency.
Dr. Wyatt is also System and Division Director of Emergency Ultrasound for Erlanger Health System and Medical Director of the Emergency Department at Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital in Murphy, NC.
When he isn't working, Dr. Wyatt devotes his time to his family and hobbies, including arranging music for piano, 3D printing his own tools, and working on electronics.
Ultrasound faculty member Dr. Ben Smith is a board certified emergency medicine physician and an internationally recognized educator in point of care ultrasound (POCUS). He is a core faculty member of the College of Medicine – Chattanooga Emergency Medicine residency.
Dr. Smith was named the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Outstanding Speaker of the Year in 2021 for his teaching excellence. ACEP also awarded him an Innovation in Clinical Ultrasound distinction in 2017 for his work developing software and social media tools that advance the field of ultrasound. In 2020, the Society of Clinical Ultrasound Fellowships recognized Dr. Smith with its iAward: Innovations and Impact for pushing the limits of the clinical ultrasound subspecialty through new teaching methods, high impact social media, FOAMed, and peer-reviewed research.
One of Dr. Smith's most noted achievements is the creation of CoreUltrasound.com, the highest-ranked POCUS educational site online with more than 1.2 million views. His other digital education tools include Ultrasound of the Week (ranked in the top 20 of ALiEM social media sites) and SonoClipShare.com, a free, secure platform for sharing and reviewing de-identified ultrasound clips that is used by training programs worldwide and is available as an app on iOS and Android.
Dr. Smith is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. He completed his Emergency Medicine Residency at the University of Alabama-Birmingham as well as the ACEP Teaching Fellowship.
Dr. Smith holds the rank of Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine with the College of Medicine – Chattanooga.
In addition to his clinical skills, Dr. Smith is an avid photographer whose works adorn the halls of Erlanger Hospital. He is also an accomplished brass musician and has performed in the Erlanger Medical Mall with Dr. Elijah Wyatt.
The 2026-27 AEMUS Fellow is Dr. David Wang.
Dr. Wang is a graduate of Emory University School of Medicine and also holds a Master of Public Health. He completed his Emergency Medicine Residency here in Chattanooga, where he served as chief resident, and stayed on for the 2026-27 fellowship year. As a fellow, Dr. Wang assists with the clinical education of residents and rotating medical students while advancing his own expertise in advanced sonography.
Outside the hospital, David is a percussionist with choral, band, and orchestral experience, a musical theater enthusiast, and a fan of hip-hop dance, K-Pop, and competitive Pokemon.
Fellowship Prerequisites & Requirements
The Ultrasound Fellow is hired as an attending physician and holds a faculty appointment with the College of Medicine-Chattanooga. Salary and benefits are provided directly by the emergency medicine physician group ApolloMD. The Ultrasound Fellow must meet four prerequisites before entering the fellowship:
- Be a graduate of an accredited emergency medicine residency
- Be a licensed physician in Tennessee
- Be a licensed physician in North Carolina
- Be credentialed as a member of the Erlanger Medical Staff
The program coordinator and credentialing staff provide administrative support for licensure and credentialing following Match Day.
Review the most current training requirements as approved by the Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Accreditation Council. [Link should point to the 2026 AEMUS Program Requirements.] The Core Curriculum for an Advanced Emergency Medicine Ultrasonography Fellowship is provided by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
How to Apply
Application requirements, step-by-step SCUF and NRMP instructions, and the current timeline are maintained on our fellowship site: utaemus.com/apply.
Contact
Elijah C. Wyatt, MD, FACEP, FAEMUS Ultrasound Fellowship Director elijah.wyatt@erlanger.org
Allyson Hemsley, MPH Program Coordinator allyson.hemsley@erlanger.org 423.778.7628
