Department Blog

Dr. Laura Bontempo, along with Dr. Neda Frayha and Dr. Philip Dittmar from the Department of Medicine, have designed a “boot camp” that they offer to seniors before graduation from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The training program was the focus of a breakout session, led by Dr. Frayha, at the 2015 National Resident Matching Program conference (“Transition to Residency: Conversations Across the Medical Education Continuum”), held in New Orleans in early October. The session was titled “Implementation of a Specialty-Neutral Internship Preparation Camp: Lessons and Successes.”

Doug Floccare, MD, MPH, who is the State Aeromedical Director for the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems and the Medical Director for the Maryland State Police Aviation Command, in addtion to being a member of the emergency medicine faculty, was a keynote speaker at the 2015 Shanghai International Forum of Urban Safety & Disaster Medical Rescue, sponsored by the Chinese Society of Disaster Medicine and held in Shanghai from October 23 to 25. The topic of his talk was "Integration of Public Service Helicopter EMS into the Healthcare System: An Overview of the Maryland Statewide Medevac Program."

The October 8th edition of EMResident, published by the Emergency Medicine Residents Association, contains an article by Chris Lemon, MD, Chief Resident, and Ashley Strobel, MD, a 2015 graduate of our Emergency Medicine/Pediatrics Residency. You can read their article, titled “The Options for Training in Pediatric Emergency Medicine,” at www.emresident.org/the-options-for-training-in-pediatric-emergency-medicine/?_cldee=bWlrZWhvbGRzd29ydGg5OTk5QGdtYWlsLmNvbQ%3d%3d.

A conversation between Terry Mulligan, DO, MPH, and Greg Henry, MD, a past president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, on the topic of the role of faith in medicine, was published in the August 17th issue of Emergency Physicians Monthly. The transcript, published as “The Soul of the Matter: Can Believing in God Make You a Better Doctor?,” is available at the journal’s website, epmonthly.com, under Dr. Henry’s column, “Oh Henry.” Because the conversation drifted toward quantum theory, Jason Bryslawskyj, a physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, was invited to offer clarifying commentary.

Zachary Dezman, MD, MS, is the lead author of the article titled “Failure to Clear Elevated Lactate Predicts 24-Hour Mortality in Trauma Patients,” published in this month's issue of the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. His study collaborators and co-authors are Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD; Angela Comer, MPH, and Gordon Smith, MBChB, MPH, (from the National Study Center for Trauma and Emergency Medical Systems); and Mayur Narayan, MD, MPH, MBA, and Thomas Scalea, MD (from the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center).

Terry Mulligan, DO, MPH, served as an advisor to the first meeting of emergency medicine executives representing the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The purpose of the meeting, held in Bangkok in mid-September, was to begin to integrate emergency health care resources in the region, to develop and coordinate training and research opportunities, and to lay the foundation for the formation of the ASEAN Emergency Medicine Network. ASEAN was formed in 1967 as an economic and political organization that encourages the region’s economic growth, standard of living, and international collaboration. Its members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Bryan D. Hayes, PharmD, is participating in a workgroup convened by the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology to discuss and clarify the clinic applications of intravenous lipid therapy. Lipid emulsion has been used for about 10 years to counter cardiovascular collapse induced by local and regional anesthetics and, more recently, in the management of overdoses of lipophilic drugs. The purpose of the workgroup is to review the relevant medical literature and then develop evidence-based clinical guidelines. The structure and strategy of the group are described in the July issue of Clinical Toxicology (2015;53[6]:557‒564).

Documenting his ongoing studies of the role of microparticles in decompression sickness, Stephen Thom, MD, PhD, recently published two articles in the applied physiology literature. His research team of Ming Yang, MS, Veena Bhopale, PhD, and Jasjeet Bhullar, PhD, along with colleagues from the University of Split in Croatia, published “Ascorbic Acid Supplementation Diminishes Microparticle Elevations and Neutrophil Activation Following SCUBA Diving” in the August issue of the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integration and Comparative Physiology. Dr. Thom is the lead author of “Association of Microparticles and Neutrophil Activation with Decompression Sickness,” published in the September issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology. That article presents the findings of an international collaborative investigation, with contributions from Dr. Yang, Dr. Bhopale, and Douglas Sward, MD, along with colleagues from California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Italy, and Sweden.

Rose Chasm, MD, and Zachary Dezman, MD, MS, published an article in the Images in Emergency Medicine column in the October issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine. The article describes an 11-year-old girl with nasal congestion, fever, and blurred vision in her right eye. The authors’ description of the diagnostic process and treatment strategy can be read at www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(14)01403-6/pdf.

Michael Bond, MD, is a co-author of “Recommendations from the Council of Residency Directors (CORD) Social Media Committee on the Role of Social Media in Residency Education and Strategies on Implementation,” published in the July issue of the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. The recommendations were drafted by CORD’s Social Media Committee, discussed during a day-long forum at CORD's 2014 Academic Assembly, and then refined by a panel of 22 emergency medicine residency program directors and social media experts. The refinement process took place on Google Groups, an online discussion platform.