Department of Emergency Medicine

(APRIL 18, 2024) Kalev Freeman, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of emergency medicine and pharmacology, was quoted in a WCAX-TV story about equine-assisted therapy for people who have sustained traumatic brain injuries, or TBI.

(APRIL 15, 2024) An article on women in wilderness medicine co-authored by Sarah Schlein, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine and director of wilderness medicine education, was recently published in Wilderness Medicine Magazine.

(APRIL 10, 2024) Kalev Freeman, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of emergency medicine and pharmacology, discussed traumatic brain injury, or TBI, in a WCAX-TV interview.

(March 19, 2024) President and UVMMC Chief Operating Officer Stephen Leffler, M.D., professor of emergency medicine, was interviewed by WCAX-TV about the worsening long-term care bottleneck that continues to stress hospital capacity.

(FEBRUARY 22, 2024) In a VT Digger opinion piece, Christine Werneke, M.S., and Stephen Leffler, M.D., discussed the effects of Vermont’s severe lack of capacity for patients who need long-term care outside of the hospital.

(FEBRUARY 21, 2024) UVMMC President and COO Stephen Leffler, M.D., commented to Vermont Public for a story about health care officials’ statement to lawmakers that a shortage of nursing home beds has forced hospitals to become residential care providers for patients who have nowhere else to go.

(FEBRUARY 8, 2024) In an impassioned opinion piece in VT Digger, four Vermont emergency medicine physicians explain a crisis in our emergency departments known as “boarding” and plead for an increase in skilled nursing and long-term care beds, home health supports, and robust, reliable funding mechanisms to support both.

(FEBRUARY 1, 2024) UVM Medical Center President and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Leffler, M.D.’90, M.H.C.D.S., professor of emergency medicine, commented about a new UVMMC program announced on the first day of Black History Month that’s aimed at closing the patient inequity gap when it comes to patient hair care, NBC5 reported.

Medical students, faculty, physicians, and hospital staff stepped up to the microphone on January 18 to tell true stories about their most humbling moments at the sixth annual StorySlamRx: Voices in Medicine. Alpha Omega Alpha and Gold Humanism Honor Society members organized and hosted the event, held in the Hoehl Gallery. Inspired by The Moth live storytelling, story slam provides a safe space to share personal experiences and connect with others over shared emotions. For people in the medical community, telling and listening to each other’s stories facilitates wellness and quells burnout.

(JANUARY 10, 2024) The University of Vermont Medical Center is reviving its mask mandate for staff who work with patients. Stephen Leffler, M.D., president and chief operating officer of the hospital and professor of emergency medicine, says masking is a “simple step that we can take to keep our patients safe,” VT Digger reported.

(NOVEMBER 10, 2023) Daniel Wolfson, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine, commented to WCAX-TV for a story on a pre-pandemic addiction treatment program that embedded peer recovery coaches in the UVM Medical Center emergency department—now it’s back, after an extended pandemic pause.

(NOVEMBER 6, 2023) Christian Pulcini, M.D., M.Ed., M.P.H., assistant professor of emergency medicine, was interviewed by STAT for an article about a new study on the lasting effects of gun violence on young survivors.

(OCTOBER 27, 2023) Julie Vieth, M.D., assistant professor of emergency medicine and assistant medical director of the Emergency Department at the University of Vermont Medical Center, was featured in a story on WCAX-TV about a UVM Health Network project spotlighting violence against frontline health care staff.

(OCTOBER 24, 2023) A powerful video on violence in the Emergency Department at the University of Vermont Medical Center by Roland Kielman and Ryan Mercer, communications specialists with the University of Vermont Health Network, with text by Helen Ouyang, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor at Columbia University, was featured in the New York Times Opinion section.

(OCTOBER 9, 2023) Kalev Freeman, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine, is part of a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) research team working on a new $12.1 million trauma research program, UPMC’s Inside Life Changing Medicine reports.

(SEPTEMBER 25, 2023) Mariah McNamara, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of emergency medicine at Larner and medical director of emergency medicine at the UVM Medical Center, commented to WCAX-TV about dispensing more Narcan to the community.

Each summer, many rising second-year medical students engage in clinical, basic science or health policy-related research projects under the guidance of expert faculty. The students choose their topics based on personal passions and immerse themselves in projects tackling medical puzzles and unmet health needs. Engaging in research can be among the most valuable experiences during a medical education.

Cliff Reilly '24 aspires to work at a small community hospital in Vermont. As the inaugural recipient of an incentive scholarship that will pay back his medical school loans, this goal is within Reilly's grasp. The incentive aims to strengthen the physician workforce pipeline into Vermont, as the state competes nationally and globally to attract and retain a geographically distributed physician workforce.

(JULY 24, 2023) “Existing scientific studies show that, as the mercury climbs, so do hospital admissions,” writes Daniel Barkhuff, M.D., assistant professor of emergency medicine, in an opinion piece in VTDigger warning of the health effects of climate change.