UPDATES FROM FLORIDA’S EMERGENCY MEDICINE RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
UF Gainesville By Megan Rivera, MD, PGY-1 NORTH FLORIDA
UCF at North Florida Regional By Jayden Miller, MD, PGY-1 We are just a few months into 2021, yet have so many exciting things to share. First, we would like to congratulate one of our core faculty members and medical director, Dr. Gary Gillette, on concluding his year as Chief of Staff during one of the most difficult times in the history of our specialty. Dr. Gillette will continue to be very involved this year with his new role as past Chief and, as always, continue to be a true administrative exemplar and mentor for our residency. We also want to recognize and congratulate some familiar faces on their new titles: Drs. Diana Mora and Tom Bentley as Associate Program Directors, and Drs. James Lee, Marcos Marugan-Wyatt and Andrew Nicholas as Chief Residents. Our PGY-2s just returned from their class retreat where they discussed QI projects, community service and transitioning to being a PGY-3. Several wellness activities were also scheduled, one of which was a 3-hour ropes course! Several of our senior residents, led by Program Director Dr. Robyn Hoelle and faculty members Drs. Dakota Lane and Mahesh Setty, will be publishing an upcoming chapter in the Healthy Aging and Longevity series in the volume “Redox Signaling and Biomarkers in Aging,” set for publication in January 2022. The chapter will discuss the clinical applications of redox biomarkers in the acute setting with a focus on the geriatric population. Contributors to the chapter include resident Drs. Anthony DeRenzi, James Lee, Jyoti Das and Mollie Powell. Lastly, it wouldn’t be a NFEM update if we didn’t mention ultrasound! We are thrilled to announce that we officially have two ultrasound fellows, Drs. Joshua Middleton and Mollie Powell, set to start this July for our new ultrasound fellowship. ■ 28
NORTH FLORIDA Spring is finally upon us! This marks one year since the pandemic began, and what a year this has been. It’s hard to believe that we were all learning about this novel coronavirus just one year ago, and how all of our lives have been impacted in this short time. We are full of excitement, however, as all residents had the opportunity to get their first vaccination dose before the holidays and received both vaccination doses shortly into the new year. Although not out of the COVID woods yet, we are finally beginning to get a taste of normalcy. We are back to in-person conferences, and although we are socially distancing, it is so nice to be back together again. We’re shuffling the deck here at UF and have several congratulations to make! First and foremost, we would like to give a bittersweet congratulations to Dr. Marie-Carmelle Elie, who will be assuming the role as Chair of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Elie has been one of the most gifted educators our department has seen and a favorite among residents for years. Dr. Elie will certainly be missed, and we wish her nothing but success in her new endeavor. Dr. Guiliano De Portu is taking his talents from Assistant Program Director to our new Ultrasound Fellowship Director. Dr. De Portu was the first ultrasound fellow here at UF years ago, and we cannot wait to see what new heights he will take our ultrasound curriculum and fellowship to. Dr. Caroline Srihari will be assuming her new position as Assistant Program Director. Dr. Srihari is incredibly popular among all residents and we cannot think of someone more deserving. And finally, a huge congratulations to our new
EMpulse Spring 2021
chiefs: Drs. Borobia, Clifford and Mysore! Our outgoing chiefs, Drs. Fisher, Purcell and Williams did an incredible job navigating our residents through the pandemic and left quite the shoes to fill. We are confident that our new chiefs will step into this role with grace and look forward to their impact on our residency. We recently had resident simulations in our UF simulation center, which is a fun experience for both residents and faculty. Our simulation lab offers all the bells and whistles to get our residents comfortable with whatever might be thrown at them. Whether it’s ultrasound-compatible mannequins, fiberoptic and difficult intubations, ventilator troubleshooting or virtual reality central lines, there is little that our simulation lab cannot offer. We want to give a shout-out to our simulation staff, who flawlessly execute our cases and always add a little bit of humor. The simulation lab is not the only place we practice, however. We regularly have simulation codes in our pediatric resuscitation bays. These simulations are a great opportunity for residents and staff as it allows us to practice flow and communication during stressful and time-sensitive situations. Simulation here at UF makes us proud and prepares our residents to handle any situation that the emergency department may bring. Our virtual interview season has ended, and we are happy to announce that all of our PGY-1 spots have been filled. We are so excited to welcome another diverse intern class to the Swamp. We look forward to embracing them into our UF family and are anxiously awaiting their arrival this summer. ■
