Department Blog

George Willis, MD, our department's Director of Medical Student Education, and Phil Magidson, MD, MPH, a fourth-year EM/IM resident, have been elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society by its Beta Chapter at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. AOA members are most commonly thought of as top-tier medical students, but the society can also nominate and elect physician educators who exemplify leadership qualities, academic excellence, and professionalism. That is the honor bestowed on Dr. Willis and Dr. Magidson. Congratulations to them!

Ben Lawner was a faculty member for the 23rd Annual Conference of the National Collegiate EMS Foundation, held in Philadelphia in late February and attended by more than 1200 college-based EMS providers. Dr. Lawner led a workshop titled “Delirium, Designer Drugs, and Teen Death: Electronic Dance Music Festivals,” which focused on patient encounters during Moonrise Festivals at Pimlico Race Course. He also narrated a trauma skills competition and led a skills lab on resuscitation after cardiac arrest. In a roundtable discussion, Ben reviewed recent articles on resuscitation, airway management, and trauma care, and he participated as a panelist in the final plenary session, describing how he combines his passion for EMS with his career in emergency medicine. In addition to his academic appointment in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Lawner is the Deputy Medical Director for the Baltimore City Fire Department and provides medical oversight to several paramedic programs.

Dr. Michael Bond, Residency Program Director, along with emergency medicine program directors from Staten Island University Hospital, Hofstra North Shore-LU School of Medicine, the University of Kentucky, and Michigan State University, is a co-author of “Have First-Year Emergency Medicine Residents Achieved Level 1 on Care-Based Milestones?,” published in the December issue of the Journal of Graduate Medical Education. The investigators surveyed 41 interns from 4 programs and their supervising attendings regarding the residents’ fulfillment of clinical expectations that constitute Level 1 ability (at the level of a medical school graduate). One-fourth of the study group fell short of meeting all nine care-based milestones. The findings of this study have implications for training programs in all medical specialties.

Ben Lawner, DO, MS, EMT-P, R. Gentry Wilkerson, MD, and Jenny Guyther, MD, were faculty members for the national paramedic refresher course hosted by UMBC in late February. They presented lectures titled "Resuscitation Review: Articles You've Got to Know!," “Disaster Response/Preparedness,” and “Pediatrics,” respectively. More than 50 prehospital care providers from across the country earned continuing education certificates at this 4-day event.

Stephen Thom, MD, PhD, and his colleagues from the University of Split School of Medicine in Croatia, published the article titled “Exercise Before and After SCUBA Diving and the Role of Cellular Microparticles in Decompression Stress” in the January issue of Medical Hypotheses. Their observations contribute to the ongoing examination of the role of venous gas emboli in decompression sickness. Elucidation of the effect of pre-dive practices such as exercise, ingestion of antioxidants, and hydration on an individual’s response to dive stresses could lead to applications in the management of diseases that involve endothelial dysfunction and microparticle production.

Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD, and Bryan D. Hayes, PharmD, along with Gordon S. Smith, MBChB, MPH, from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and Wendy Klein-Schwartz, PharmD, MPH, from the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science in the School of Pharmacy, and their Egyptian colleagues, are the authors of an article in the January issue of Clinical Toxicology. Its title is “Epidemiology of Acute Poisoning in Children Presenting to the Poisoning Treatment Center at Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, 2009-2013.” The 38,470 children treated at the center during the study period accounted for 44% of total patients seen. Poisoning in preschool children was mainly unintentional and commonly caused by nonpharmaceutical agents, whereas most poisonings among adolescents were intentional. Pesticides, most commonly organophosphorus compounds and carbamates, were the agents that most often led to morbidity and mortality.

Danya Khoujah, MBBS, and Amal Mattu, MD, contributed the chapter on ischemic heart disease to the sixth edition of Emergency Medicine Secrets, published this month by Elsevier.

Eight members of the emergency medicine faculty traveled to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, last week, as invited speakers at the 2016 Rocky Mountain Winter Conference. Amal Mattu, MD, presented the keynote address, "Secrets of Success in Emergency Medicine...From the Princess Bride," and a lecture, “PEA: A Miracle Pill for the Mostly Dead!” The other participating faculty members and the titles of their presentations are as follows: Brian Browne, MD, "Free-Standing Emergency Departments," George Willis, MD, “The Crashing Aortic Dissection: Do's and Don'ts,” Wendy Chang, MD, “Status Epilepticus: Mistakes You Don't Want to Make!,” Michael Winters, MD, “Running the Perfect Code” and “Cutting Edge Resuscitation...Beyond the Golden Tower,” Haney Mallemat, MD, “Critical Care Ultrasound: Beyond the FAST” and “More Than Morning Sickness: The Critically Ill Pregnant Patient,” Semhar Tewelde, MD, “Syncope Disasters,” and Michael Abraham, MD, "Dazed and Confused--How to Save Every Last Neuron!” The conference was sponsored by Denver Health Medical Center.

Seth Ball, MD, and Sarah Moreland, MD, both EM/PEDS residents, published an aritcle on apparent life-threatening events in newborns and infants in the February/March issue of EM Resident. The authors summarize the elusive differential diagnosis of this presentation and present strategies for ED workup. Most cases will be linked to gastroesophageal reflux, seizure, or respiratory infection, but almost half of patients leave the ED without a clear diagnosis.

Ben Lawner, DO, MS, EMT-P, co-led the workshop titled “Electronic Dance Music, Designer Drugs & Teen Deaths” at the annual meeting of the National Association of EMS Physicians, held last week in San Diego. His co-presenters were Kathleen FitzGibbon, MD, a 2015 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (now an EM resident at Christiana Care Health System), Matt Levy, DO, MSc, NREMTP, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins and a leader in that department's Division of Special Operations, and Kevin Seaman, MD, Executive Director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems. The focus of the workshop was the current craze of teens ingesting designer drugs in an attempt to have psychedelic experiences at concerts. Some of those attempts have been fatal. The workshop leaders reviewed recent literature on the topic and discussed evidence-based practices for response and treatment.