This year, the UF Department of Anesthesiology was well represented with 3 moderated sessions, 5 speaker panels, and 13+ presentations. These components of the meeting were not only presented/moderated by members of our faculty, but by a majority of our residents. Also, our residents, faculty and research staff have been known to win numerous awards at the annual meeting and we anticipate the same this year.

This resident driven project in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Florida has enabled pulse-oximetry to improve patient safety in operating rooms around the world that don’t currently have access to this important patient safety technology. Dr. Sephalie Patel, currently a graduate of our residency program, enlisted the aid of her parents (directors of the Wise Foundation) and issued a challenge grant to the department. If every faculty member would donate $250 to purchase a “Lifebox” pulse oximeter and every resident donate some amount of money toward the purchase of a Lifebox, the Wise Foundation would donate sufficient money to enable each resident’s contribution to purchase a Lifebox. This picture shows a check covering the purchase of 135 Lifeboxes for distribution throughout the third world being given to Atul Gawande, MD by incoming American Society of Anesthesiologists President Jerry Cohen (a faculty member here at UF). Dr. Patel and Dr. Kiki Nin (PGY-3) resident organized bake sales and a party to encourage resident donation. Administrative staff assisted as well by contributing and organizing bake sales.

Meet our new residents!

 Heartfelt thanks to everyone who played a part in this year’s recruiting. We have a fine group of CA-1 and PGY-1 residents who will be joining us very soon.

2013 CA-1 Class

Colton Arrant will graduate from the University of Utah School of Medicine this May. He earned his undergraduate degree in Biology from Southern Utah University. During medical school, Colton participated in multiple health clinics and organizations. He also received an NIH grant for a summer’s research endeavors. He enjoys spending time with his wife and son, outdoor activities such as hiking, snowboarding, and rock climbing, as well as power lifting, and restoring cars. He is also fluent in Spanish.

Chukwudi “Chuks” Obiori Chiaghana will graduate from Vanderbilt School of Medicine this May. He earned an undergraduate degree in Biology from Moorehouse College in Atlanta. He has been involved in research during his entire academic career , resulting in several publications. He was elected as Vice President of his medical school class, and won the Dean’s Award, which is given to the person who best unites his class through humor. Chuks grew up in Nigeria. His dedication to his adopted Nashville community is reflected in the many local events he organizes there. He also manages his own need-based scholarship which funds tuition for 2 students to attend college in Nigeria. In his free time he enjoys lifting weights, playing soccer, and ping pong.

Florian Dibra will graduate from Jefferson Medical College in May. He earned his undergraduate degree in Biology from Villanova University. Florian has participated in multiple research efforts, authoring or co-authoring several poster presentations, publications, and a book chapter, mostly in the field of orthopedics. He is passionate enough about playing and watching soccer that he took a weekend trip to cheer on his home team, Albania, as they beat Belarus. He speaks English, Albanian, and Italian, and he also enjoys cooking and traveling.

Brian Hardy will graduate from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle this May. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from the University of Wyoming. During medical school, Brian has been involved in research examining the effects of perinatal iron deficiency and its association with learning disabilities. Brian also was elected to serve as a member on his medical school honor council – a position he continues to hold. He is a father of 3, and his hobbies include spending time with his family, reading, photography, cooking, and crafts.

Eric Hilgenfeldt is currently a fourth year medical student here at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate studies in Biology at Florida Atlantic University, where he spent his first year on the varsity swim team. Eric is an ASA delegate, serving as a liaison between UF and the ASA Medical Student Council. He will be attending the national conference in shortly in Chicago. His hobbies outside of medicine include intramural swimming, college football (go Gators!), and spending quality time with his wife, friends, and family, snowboarding, and fishing. He has completed 2 marathons and is also an Eagle Scout.

LaTasha Denise Moore is currently a fourth year medical student here at University of Florida College of Medicine. She earned a psychology undergraduate degree here at UF as well. During medical school LaTasha participated in an international medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic, and she has also been involved in research in the department of Neurology focusing on the treatment of depression and other “non-motor” symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Her interests outside of medicine include cooking, running marathons, traveling, and spending time with her friends and family.

Davoy Murray is a fourth year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine. He earned his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Albany State University in Georgia. During his entire academic careeer, Davoy has been extensively involved in several research ventures including the FAER summer research fellowship. His hobbies include playing soccer, reading, participating in outreach and volunteer organizations, mentoring/teaching, and traveling.

Brandon Radmall will graduate from the University of Nevada School of Medicine in May. He completed his undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Biology. During medical school, Brandon participated in a FAER research program through the ASA, during which he conducted critical care based research at Emory University. He is also his medical school’s student delegate to the ASA. Brandon’s hobbies include running, snowboarding, and playing soccer.

2012 PGY-1 Class

Lee Audd will graduate from the University of Utah School of Medicine this May. He received his undergraduate degree from Utah State University in biochemistry, and worked in the construction industry prior to attending medical school. During his medical school career, Lee actively served his community, including participation in an outreach program that educates people in rural areas about health care careers. He plays several musical instruments, preferring the cello, and also enjoys reading, sports, outdoor activities, and spending time with his wife and three kids.

Matthew Bzdega will graduate from the University of Iowa College of Medicine in May. Before attending medical school, Matthew earned a bachelor’s degree in Applied Physics from Emory University and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. At Emory, he was a member of the varsity swim team. He applied his engineering expertise at the University of Michigan to several research projects involving orthopedic instrumentation. Mathew’s hobbies include being a Ukulele Luthier, playing intramural soccer, sailing, scuba diving, surfing, paddleboarding, and traveling

Nick Cummings is a fourth year medical student at Florida State University College of Medicine. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from the University of Central Florida. During medical school, Nick has been involved in numerous philanthropic organizations ranging from volunteer health clinics to being a counselor at Camp Boggy Creek. Besides medicine he enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, running, kayaking, and weightlifting.

Michael Draney is a fourth year medical student at Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. He earned a degree in Biology with a minor in Spanish from Brigham Young University. Prior to and during medical school, Michael’s community service included holding positions in community health care teams and being a youth group advisor at his church. Michael is also fluent in Spanish. His passions outside of medicine are his family (he has a 1 year old son), participating in and watching sports, music, dancing, and going to concerts.

Shawn Hughes will graduate from University of North Texas Health Science Center – Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in May. His undergraduate studies were completed at the University of North Texas. Shawn was originally trained in nursing and worked as Surgical (CT) ICU nurse for several years before seeking a degree in medicine. He has been involved in several philanthropic organizations during medical school and also assumed many leadership roles in medical student associations. His research involvement resulted in a poster presentation on the evaluation of a novel chest tube drainage system. In his free time, Shawn enjoys carpentry, comic book collecting, and film and video production.

Ferenc Rabai is originally from Hungary, where he completed medical school at the University of Debrecen. After earning his medical degree, Ferenc spent the next five years completing general surgery training in the United Kingdom. He was granted membership into the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2010. Ferenc’s interests include traveling, tennis, classical music, economics, go-karting, and obtaining his private pilot’s license.

Brad Royal will graduate from the Medical College of Georgia this May. He earned his undergraduate degree in Biology from Valdosta State University. Prior to and during college Brad worked in his family business in the agriculture industry as a peanut and cotton consultant. In his spare time he enjoys outdoor activities such hunting, fishing, and playing various sports.

Gregory Sams is a fourth year medical student at Ohio State University College of Medicine. His undergraduate degree is in Chemistry from Northwestern University. During his medical school career, Gregory was involved in volunteer organizations and in research on lymphoma and leukemia. He participated in each step of the research process, from bench work to the writing process, resulting in a publication and a poster presentation. Besides medicine, Gregory has run three marathons, he enjoys a cappella singing, small boat sailing (he is an instructor), traveling, coffee, and cycling.

Christina Sarrica is a fourth year medical student at Des Moines University – Osteopathic Medical Center. She completed her dual undergraduate degrees in Biology and Chemistry at Russell Sage College in New York. During medical school, Christina helped organize and operate a student-run medical clinic for the underserved. She also participated in research examining protein expression in different types of cancer. In her spare time she enjoys scuba diving (PADI certified rescue diver), international travel, swimming, gymnastics, Pilates, skiing, and formal canine training.

Ashley Screws is a fourth year medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Biology at Xavier University in New Orleans. During medical school, Ashley has been involved in several different community service projects and volunteer work. She also completed a summer research fellowship at the Henry Ford Hospital, during which she focused on airway protective reflexes after topicalization with lidocaine. During her spare time, she enjoys music, professional DJ-ing, and she is a licensed cosmetologist.

Cameron Smith, our new Gravenstein Scholar, is a fourth year student at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Guelph in Canada and then attended pharmacy school at the University of Toronto. Beginning in medical school and ongoing until 2013, Cameron is actively researching animal model treatment of traumatic brain injury, treatment of decompression sickness using perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsions, and treatment of arterial gas embolism with PFC emulsions. He is a first author on several articles and multiple poster presentations. A former chocolatier, his hobbies include cooking, SCUBA diving. He also plays bass guitar and sax.

Timothy Walter Vollmer is a fourth year medical student at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, PA. He earned an undergradaute degree in biochemistry from Allegheny College, where he played varsity golf. Prior to and throughout medical school, Timothy has been involved in many philanthropic organizations. As part of his long-term commitment to the Special Olympics of North Central Pennsylvania, he was a volunteer swim coach. His other interests include fishing, camping, and participating in various sports.

Running into Dr. Pratt while transferring patients

Major Martin Harssema of the United States Air Force (USAF), graduated the Anesthesiology residency program in 2009 at the University of Florida. He is now the Director of a Critical Care Air Transport Team in the USAF, and has had the opportunity with several great physicians including Dr. Pratt a world renowned surgeon (JP drain).

Dr. Harssema and Dr. Armstrong at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center

Dr. Harssema is one of the many residents who graduated the program and gone off to make an impact in HealthCare whether it be military service, private practice, or a professorship in the academic setting.

The Department is composed of 66 clinical faculty, seven research faculty, 75 residents, 12 fellows, 45 mid-level providers and a support and administrative staff of 35 people. It is a world renowned academic department that typically publishes at least one book, more than 50 manuscripts and book chapters and is granted at least 4 U. S. patents each year.

Multiple fellowship-trained faculty cover each clinical subspecialty discipline including: Critical Care Medicine, pediatric, congenital cardiac, adult cardiac, neurosurgical and obstetric anesthesia as well as regional and acute pain medicine and chronic pain. Research interests of the faculty span clinical, basic science, nanotechnology, simulation training and interactive World Wide Web projects.

Gainesville consistently ranks in the top 10 lists of desirable places to live by various magazines and ranking services. It is a medium-sized city in North Central Florida with a city and county population of approximately 180,000. The additional 50,000 University of Florida and 20,000 Santa Fe College students bring the total population to 250,000 people. It has the general atmosphere of a college town, where both housing costs and taxes are low compared to most areas of the country and there is no state income tax. Gainesville does have seasons, with a mild winter, pleasant spring and fall, and a typical southern summer. It’s inland location protects from the impact of hurricanes in both the Gulf and Atlantic.

The University of Florida is one of the largest universities in the nation. UF is a major, public, comprehensive, land-grant research university. It is among the nation’s most academically diverse and is home to 19 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. Kiplinger’s lists UF as the second best value in public colleges nationwide for the seventh year in a row.(Feb 2012 edition).

Congratulations to the UF residents (former UF residents), fellows and faculty who authored chapters in the just published textbook “essentials of pain medicine, 3rd edition”.  This textbook is the most widely distributed pain textbook to pain fellows in the US.

Authors Include:

Emily Davoodi, MD, PharmD

Heidi Goldstein, MD

Jonathan Jerman, MD

Neil Ellis, MD

Meredith Adams, MD

Kayser Enneking, MD

Again Congrats,

Robert W. Hurley, MD/PhD
Chief of Pain Medicine 
Associate Professor, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Psychiatry, Orthopaedics, and Neurology

It has been a busy summer in Gainesville. As our drought has given way to our typical summer afternoon thunder storms so has graduation of our outstanding class of senior residents and fellows given way to the giddy excitement of new residents, and brand new attendings. It is the cyclical nature of this practice that really makes it always new and exciting. Our residents and fellows moved on to a variety of fellowships and new practice opportunities in both academic and private practice settings. It was with a great deal of pride and a tinge of sadness that we said good bye to this group pictured beside Bivens Arm in their graduation finest. For Dr. Euliano and myself it was our first group of residents that we had shepherded through residency since their CA-1 years, so it marked a bit of a new era for us as well. Like a proud new parent Tammy showed videos of these graduates performing their first simulated intubation. Not only was this hilarious, it provided the reality check of really how far they had come in a short period of time.

Read more from Gatorworks August 2011