This month, Academic Services Specialist Ms. Shanell McCall-Cephas received certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute.
Ms. 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, Ms. 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 Ms. McCall-Cephas’ service and appreciate the hard work of our entire Administrative team!
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Pictured above: The Department’s Education team, comprised of Ms. Shanell McCall-Cephas, Ms. Nakisha Daniels, and Ms. Janae Yates, pictured in the office.
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.
On May 12, Professor Mak Moayedi, MD; Assistant Professor Bobbi-Jo Lowie, MD; Associate Professor Alexis Salerno, MD; Assistant Professor Ryan Spangler, MD; and Clinical Assistant Professor Doug Sward, MD, led a cadaver-based procedures lab exclusively for Departmental faculty.
The lab reviewed procedures including an ultrasound-guided nerve block, lateral canthotomy, facial nerve block, cricothyrotomy, endotracheal intubation, central venous access, tube thoracostomy, knee and wrist arthocentesis, thoracotomy, pericardiocentesis, transvenous pacing, Blakemore tube placement, and nasopharengeal laryngoscopy.
The lab allowed Departmental faculty to review and practice high-stakes procedures not always taught in standard labs, but very helpful in the day-to-day practice of Emergency Medicine.
EMS1, an online news network for EMTs, paramedics, and EMS professionals, recently recognized Maryland ExpressCare’s response to a complex crash in Baltimore.
ExpressCare clinicians recently responded to a local crash involving a public bus and two passenger vehicles. After colleagues at the Baltimore City Fire Department rescued patients from the scene, ExpressCare clinicians administered blood to a patient, placed an advanced airway, and transitioned the patient to a mechanical ventilator—offering critical, life-saving pre-hospital services.
Associate Professor Benjamin Lawner, DO, MS, EMT-P, serves as Medical Director of Maryland ExpressCare. Designed primarily to transport patients, ExpressCare also deploys physicians and nurse anesthetists to incident scenes at the request of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command.
In March, Assistant Professor Cheyenne Falat, MD, was featured in a Time article about situations that scare ER doctors the most. Dr. Falat shared insight about the realities of drowning in young children. Although drowning is the leading cause of death in children from ages 1 to 4, it is preventable. Dr. Falat recommends families enroll their children in swimming lessons and install barriers to prevent children from accessing pools or open water.