Department Blog

Congratulations to Kathleen Stephanos, MD, a resident in our EM/Peds program, for her article titled "Influenza and the Flu Vaccine," which was published in the June/July issue of EM Resident. Her article is available at www.emra.org.

Dr. Rob Rogers was a plenary speaker and faculty member for the General Practice Conference & Medical Exhibition (GP CME 2014), held in Rotorua, New Zealand, in mid-June. Five hundred primary care physicians, nurses, and practice managers attended the convention. Dr. Rogers led a 2-hour pre-conference workshop on the interplay between emergency medicine and primary care; presented a plenary session lecture on abdominal vascular emergencies; and led sessions on the topics of pulmonary embolism, vascular catastrophes, clinical decision making, and severe hypertension.

Three EM faculty members presented lectures at EMS Care 2014, the annual continuing education conference sponsored by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems. The title of the lecture by Jennifer Guyther, MD, was “Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones: Pediatric Injuries.” Roger Stone, MD, MS, the medical director for the Montgomery County Fire/Rescue Service, presented a breakout session on “Crew Resource Management: It’s Not Just a ‘Fire Thing’!” Ben Lawner, DO, EMT-P, deputy EMS medical director for the Baltimore City Fire Department, presented “Controversies and Conundrums in Trauma Care” and delivered the closing keynote address, “EMS Darwin Awards: Perfectly Good Calls Gone Bad.”

Five EM faculty members participated in the 15th International Conference on Emergency Medicine, held in Hong Kong in early June. Haney Mallemat, MD, presented a lecture titled "From Zero to Hero: The Crashing Ventilated Patient." Amal Mattu, MD, was the course director and presenter of an 8-hour Advanced Electrocardiography workshop. Terry Mulligan, DO, MPH, was the course director of a 2-day workshop on Advanced EM Administration and Management. Steve Schenkel, MD, served as a faculty member for that workshop. Dr. Mulligan also presented two lectures: “Global EM Development” and “Polypharmacy and the Geriatric Patient.” Veronica Pei, MD, MEd, MPH, presented a poster titled “Pre-hospital Care in Suburban China: Effect of International Collaborative Training on the Frequency of Critical Actions Performed,” chaired a poster session, and presented a lecture titled “Teaching the Millennials: What Happened to Respect and Dedication?”

Ben Lawner, DO, MS, EMT-P, presented a lecture titled "The Emergency Department Management of Acutely Decompensated Heart Failure" at the Coastal Emergency Medicine Conference, held on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, last week. One hundred fifty emergency physicians attended this joint conference of the Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina chapters of ACEP.

Darlene Robinson, MD, has received a master's degree in public health, with a concentration in community health, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Her capstone project focused on insurance reimbursement denials received by hospitalized patients.

Andy Windsor, MD, recently passed the examination requirements of the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography, certifying him as a registered diagnostic medical sonographer. He is our fifth faculty member to achieve the distinction of RDMS designation, joining Drs. Brian Euerle, Sam Hsu, Sarah Sommerkamp, and Laura Diegelmann.

Dr. Doug Sward's article on wilderness medicine, published ealier this year in the World Journal of Emergency Medicine, has been translated into Chinese and published in the Chinese Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD, was interviewed by Bruce Alan of WTOP News in Washington regarding the effect of the Affordable Care Act on emergency departments. Topics included the shortage of primary care physicians, access to care for the mentally ill, and the need for federal policymakers to improve resource allocation through their funding decisions. Dr. Hirshon chairs the ACEP Task Force that compiled America's Emergency Care Environment: A State-by-State Report Card, an assessment of the "health" of emergency medical services across the country.

Joe Martinez, MD, and Amal Mattu, MD, contributed the chapter on abdominal pain to Geriatric Emergency Medicine: Principles and Practice, which was published by Cambridge University Press in April.