Bloomington Emergency Medicine Categorical Residency Program

Welcome from the Indiana University School of Medicine—Bloomington Emergency Medicine Residency Program! Accredited in 2025, we are an emergency medicine residency program dedicated to providing outstanding education with a special focus on community, critical access and rural settings. Your residency time will be marked by unique experiences where you will foster the ingenuity and self-reliance it takes to provide care to our rural communities in the smallest critical access hospitals, supplementing your knowledge gained through work at our main site, a large community hospital with multiple specialists available. 

As the second Indiana University School of Medicine emergency medicine residency program, the longstanding history of educational excellence in the Indianapolis program creates a distinctly excellent experience for residents in Bloomington. The Indiana University School of Medicine—Bloomington Health Sciences campus adjacent to the Indiana University Health Regional Academic Health Center provides state-of-the-art facilities for your educational experience including a pristine simulation center. Medical student teaching opportunities abound through our proximity to the Indiana University School of Medicine—Bloomington regional campus with increasing numbers of students choosing to complete all of their rotations on the Bloomington campus.  

Our dedicated faculty provides an outstanding clinical and didactic curriculum focused on helping you prepare for a long and fruitful career in emergency medicine. The clinical training will focus on caring for a wide variety of emergency department presentations and providing excellent care within our community. Our main clinical site at Indiana University Health Bloomington Hospital is a busy level 3 trauma center with an 11-county referral base and is part of Indiana's largest statewide medical system. The didactic curriculum is centered on adult educational theory to emphasize active learning and hands-on experiences. A procedural curriculum will be featured and leave you with the confidence to perform even the rarest procedures without assistance. A robust mentoring program will ensure that you have the necessary guidance to thrive in our educational environment and beyond and that your personal and career goals are supported.   

Wellness is a cornerstone of a successful career in emergency medicine. Your wellness will be supported through evidence-based scheduling practices designed to help you understand your needs to thrive. You will have access to many resources through Indiana University, and access to a dedicated resident lounge space immediately off the emergency department where you can focus on support with your peers away from the hustle and bustle of the ED. A culture of career sustainability will be created and emphasized, with strong faculty role models leading by example.  

Located in Bloomington, Indiana, the program is adjacent to the main Indiana University campus providing ample opportunities for research and educational collaboration. Opportunities for outdoor activities abound with boating, kayaking and other watersports at the nearby Lake Monroe and Lake Griffy. First-class mountain biking trails nearby create additional adventure opportunities, as do a vast network of hiking trails and chances to go spelunking. Winter sports are available in the nearby town of Paoli, which in the summer often hosts obstacle course races and other events. If the indoors is more your speed, our college town atmosphere brings a vibrant music scene with many great shows coming through the Bluebird, traveling Broadway shows touring through the IU auditorium and a vast array of culinary experiences all within a very short distance from the hospital. Sports are a prominent feature of the IU culture and opportunities to participate in care at football and basketball games exist.

We invite you to learn more about our program through our website or reach out and we will be happy to answer any questions you might have. 

Sincerely,

Butch Humbert, MD, Program Director
Christine Motzkus, MD, Associate Program Director

• Teach and train emergency physicians to provide excellent patient care in any setting, at any time including rural, critical access and suburban sites through clinical rotations across the IU Health South Central Region hospitals and other patient locations. 

• Prepare emergency physicians to assume leadership roles in health systems, and medical and lay communities, through robust leadership development within the residency, the school and the health system with opportunities for participation and progressive leadership advancement in leadership roles. 

• Create physicians who serve as educators in the hospital and health system and who use evidence-based medicine and cutting-edge techniques to elevate the performance of their teams and all levels of learners through interprofessional and interdisciplinary teaching and learning activities that engage learners from pre-licensure students to practicing professionals. 

• Develop emergency physicians who have a thorough understanding of the social determinants of health, and a commitment to mitigating health care disparities and improving justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in their communities through engagement and quality improvement activities.  

• Mentor emergency physicians who drive the culture of medicine progressively forward to support well-being and career longevity in the workforce through participation in wellness and mentoring initiatives and modeling a culture of wellness from program faculty.

Bloomington is regularly listed as one of the best towns in the Midwest. For our residents, it offers a rare combination of patients, education opportunities and lifestyle. The city is home to Indiana University, bringing individuals from all over the world, and with them medical considerations not regularly seen in the United States. We are surrounded by rolling hills, forests and lakes, offering a wide range of outdoor activities, as well as a variety of subsequent injuries. Bloomington offers excellent dining and entertainment options, one of the best music schools in the world and Big Ten sports.

Research opportunities are broad, with a close partnership among clinicians and the university. These partnerships will provide many opportunities for residents to collaborate with people who share similar interests.

For families, Bloomington has excellent housing, schooling and childcare resources. IU hosts excellent music, theater, sports and many other activities. There is a wide range of festivals and events within Bloomington and in the surrounding areas. The Indianapolis airport is perennially voted best in the country and is only about an hour's drive away.