On June 10, 2026, the Department hosted its annual Research Day—an opportunity to highlight the breadth of Emergency Medicine research happening in the Department and elsewhere.
Andrew Meltzer, MD, MS, Associate Professor at the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and a 2006 graduate of UMSOM’s Residency in Emergency Medicine, served as the keynote speaker, presenting a talk entitled “Count the Obvious: Build the Future: Lessons in Emergency Medicine Research.”
Resident physicians Tara Balasubramanian, Ava Omidvar, Julie Kurek, Walt Banfield, and Mirei Kato presented their original research projects, in addition to clinical research associate, Zehra Syeda, and undergraduate medical student Samantha Camp.
On June 12, 2026, the University of Maryland School of Medicine announced that Michael Winters, MD, MBA, will permanently serve as Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine.
Since September 2025, Dr. Winters has served as interim chair of the Department; previously, he served as Vice Chair for Clinical and Administrative Affairs and as Medical Director for the Adult Emergency Department at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Downtown Campus.
On the week of June 1, 2026, the Department’s clinical site at the Baltimore VA Emergency Department (ED) reported a record low left-without-being-seen (LWBS) rate.
Out of 329 patient encounters, the VA ED reporting 0 LWBS patients—a remarkable accomplishment for an urban medical center. Of those 329 patients, the door to doctor rate was a mere 21 minutes.
In the past year, the VA ED has worked to significantly expand and improve its services. As a result, the facility has experienced drastically reduced LWBS rates and decreased arrival-to-provider times.
Based on its clinical accomplishments, Department of Veterans Affairs recently changed the status of the VA ED to a low-vulnerability Department—recognizing the site’s high-quality service and care to veterans within the Baltimore community.
This month, Academic Services Specialist Mrs. Shanell McCall-Cephas received certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute.
Mrs. McCall-Cephas has served the Department’s administrative staff for more than 15 years. In that time, she has performed a variety of progressively responsible roles—starting as a Recruitment Coordinator, and advancing to HR/Credentialing Generalist and Human Resources Specialist, before assuming her current position with the Education team.
In addition to holding the PMP, Mrs. McCall-Cephas also holds credentials as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and Society for Human Resource Management-Certified Professional (SHRM-CP).
We are grateful for Mrs. McCall-Cephas’ service and appreciate the hard work of our entire Administrative team!
On June 3, Professor Laura Bontempo, MD and Assistant Professor Kathleen Stephanos, MD joined colleagues from the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) to advocate for the specialty on Capitol Hill.
Drs. Bontempo and Stephanos visited the offices of several Members of Congress from Maryland—including Senators Van Hollen and Alsobrooks.
Both Drs. Bontempo and Stephanos are very involved with AAEM. At AAEM’s Scientific Assembly in April, Dr. Bontempo was reelected to continued service on AAEM’s Board of Directors as an At-Large Member. At the same conference, Dr. Stephanos was recognized as the 2026 recipient of AAEM’s National Young Educator Award.
As AI interpretations of ECG tracings increase, Professor and Vice Chair Amal Mattu, MD, offered guidance on using AI to help interpret ECG readings in a recent article published by Forbes.
Dr. Mattu, a renowned ECG educator, joined a group of medical entrepreneurs to discuss the benefits and challenges of AI-interpreted ECG readings.
In the article, Dr. Mattu remained realistic about the clinical use of AI when reading ECGs, emphasizing that "the physician needs to be the driver; AI can, at best, make some suggestions."
On May 28, Professor and Department Chair Mike Winters, MD, MBA and Professor and Chief Clinical Officer/Senior Vice President of the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) David Marcozzi, MD, MHS-CL, participated in UMSOM’s Town Hall, focused on the school’s clinical mission area.
Dr. Marcozzi presented information on UMMC’s Clinical Updates, and Dr. Winters presented information on Emergency Medicine’s Clinical Updates.
In the town hall, Dr. Winters described comprehensive care transformations the Department has made in the past year throughout our clinical sites to further ensure high-quality, timely care for our patients.
With support from Dr. Marcozzi and others throughout UMMC, our clinical sites have experienced remarkable success, including significantly reduced left-without-being-seen (LWBS) rates as a result of these transformations.
On May 19, at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), held this year in Atlanta, Georgia, Professor and Vice Chair Amal Mattu, MD, was honored with SAEM’s Hal Jayne Excellence in Education Award. Dr. Mattu was one of only a handful of Emergency Medicine leaders across the nation recognized by SAEM this year.
Dr. Mattu was noted in his nomination for the ways he has “distinguished himself as a high-impact physician leader while simultaneously developing a reputation as one of emergency medicine's most innovative, effective, and influential teachers.”
Dr. Mattu's award comes on the heels of another significant national award. In April, the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) recognized Dr. Mattu with the Master of AAEM designation--its highest honor. Our Department is grateful for the nearly three decades Dr. Mattu has offered his service and leadership as a faculty member!
On May 27, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Department of Emergency Medicine hosted its 13th Critical Care Symposium. Special presenters include UMSOM Dean and Distinguished Professor Mark Gladwin, MD.
Additional presenters include Associate Professor Kami Hu Windsor, MD; Emergency Medicine/Internal Medicine/Critical Care Fellow Zachary Wynne, MD; Critical Care Fellow Kristyn Mcleod, MD; Professor Quincy Tran, MD, PhD; Assistant Professor Caleb Chan, MD, MPH; Associate Professor Mark Sutherland, MD; and Professor and Department Chair Mike Winters, MD, MBA.
The intersection of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care is an increasingly important area of focus in the field of Emergency Medicine. Our Department is grateful for our long legacy of leadership in this area and looks forward to continued educational, clinical, and scholastic excellence from our Clinical Care fellows and faculty.
On May 18, Associate Professor Kinjal Sethuraman, MD, MPH, facilitated a national workshop on financial fluency for women leaders in academic Emergency Medicine. The workshop, a pre-conference offering through the Annual Meeting of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), included both lecture and panel discussion components.
Within the workshop, Interim Chair and Professor Mike Winters, MD, MBA, joined academic emergency medicine leaders from Drexel University College of Medicine, East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine, and Indiana University School of Medicine, to share perspectives on managing finances and developing budgets for academic Emergency Medicine departments.
