People

Shama Patel, MD, MPH

Member-at-Large

University of Florida - Jacksonville

Dr. Shama Patel is an emergency medicine physician who has worked globally for over 10 years. She began her career in public health at the CDC with the Global AIDS Program as part of the PEPFAR program where she worked as a technical advisor in HIV prevention with high risk populations in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. She went on to receive her M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia in 2014 and completed an Emergency Medicine residency program at Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey in 2017. During her time at Morristown she completed an international elective in Nepal where she trained health workers on emergency care and point-of-care-ultrasound in remote villages devastated by the 2015 earthquake. Dr. Patel finished a 2-year Global Emergency Medicine Fellowship in 2019. During her fellowship she completed the ICRC Health Emergencies in Large Populations course as well as the University of Minnesota tropical medicine diploma course. Dr. Patel responded as a member of the Greater Hospital Association of NY to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico serving as a lead physician responding to both emergency care and inpatient needs. In Rwanda, she provided residency leadership to the masters in emergency medicine training program including developing didactics, exams and providing simulations. Currently, Dr. Patel works as technical advisor to the Emergency and Critical Care Directorate of the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia. In this position she has led the WHO Basic Emergency Care initial training the trainer courses and provides ongoing monitoring and evaluation for the rollout of BEC throughout the country. She services as co-PI for an implementation study to assess the effectiveness of the WHO emergency care toolkit. Now she works as Assistant Professor at University of Florida-Jacksonville. Dr. Patel has worked for the last several years with GEMA founding the GEMA engagement committee and working closely with the decolonizing GH group as well as the programming council. I hope this year to take more of an active role and recruit a diverse GEMA body through being your member at large.

Saadiyah Bilal, MD, MPH

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

I am currently an assistant professor of emergency medicine in the dept. of emergency medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. I pursued a Global Health Fellowship at Brown University where she was also a candidate in the Master of Public Health degree program. I received my Medical Doctorate from University of Texas Southwestern Medical School before completing specialty training in emergency medicine from Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas. While at BCM, I also received a diploma in tropical medicine from the National School of Tropical Medicine.

Being elected to the GEMA Executive Committee and serving as the Treasurer Development & Grants Committee Chair were incredible opportunities to hone my leadership skills and be mentored by the foremost leaders in global emergency medicine. I have been able to build on my foundational leadership experience from the years prior and gain a deeper understanding of the needs of our membership. I am currently running for the secretary position as I want to have a voice in shaping the field of global emergency medicine and in turn, serve as a mentor to rising emergency medicine residents and medical students with a passion for global engagement. If elected, I want to spearhead collaboration with other SAEM committees and the SAEM Executive board to create new avenues of financial funding to support academic research grants for residents and medical students. I would also like to deepen our relationships with other SAEM committees and especially work on prioritizing the voices of historically marginalized groups in global emergency medicine.

Bradley S. Hernandez, MD

Regions Hospital/Healthpartners IME

I am interested in getting more involved with SAEM/CDEM. I am a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1994) and the University of Iowa College of Medicine (1998). I completed my residency at Regions Hospital/Healthpartners Institute (2001). My current position, which I have held since 2013, is as APD/CD at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota. Together with HCMC, Regions is one of the 2 University of Minnesota Medical School affiliated programs that comprise the department of emergency medicine at the university. I currently hold the title of assistant professor of emergency medicine and am working towards a clinical instructor appointment.

At Regions, I have been an APD/CD for 8 years. During that time my experience has focused on recruitment and the residency match. I personally write all of the SLOEs each year (usually around 50), review all of our the ERAS applications (usually around 700) and formulate the rank list for the program (with input from many). As clerkship director I have worked collaboratively with the University of Minnesota to make EM a required rotation, helped develop innovative educational conferences and provided advising to hundreds of EM applicants.

My work with CDEM has involved writing a chapter for the CDEM M4 curriculum (child abuse) and participating in the NCAT development workgroup (led by Matt Tews). Regions Hospital was involved in the NCAT validation study and one of the first institutions to adopt the NCAT, which is now used by the University of Minnesota for all students rotating in EM at any of our sites. In 2019, I co-hosted a CORD connects titled, "Session 19: The interview season (screening applications, SLOEs, interviews, creating a rank list." I presented at the CORD Academic Assembly in 2013-15. I also spent 5 years (2005-9) as the medical director at Hudson Hospital, a HealthPartners owned, critical access hospital.

Nash P. Whitaker, MD, MBA, MSEd

Indiana University

I have served IUSM as the statewide clerkship director since 2016. Annually my clerkship team is responsible for educating approximately 365 senior medical students spread across 9 campuses and 24 clinical sites. Additionally we are responsible for a robust visiting student program (24-32) students, an under-represented minority scholarship (4-6 recipients), the physician assistant rotation in emergency medicine (42 students), a career exploration elective for 3rd year medical students, a leadership and scholars track for 1st year medical students interested in EM as a career, and the mentor-ship of the EM student interest group.

I completed a medical education fellowship in 2017 along with a master's degree in medical education from the University of Pennsylvania. I have served on the CDEM Grants and Awards Committee from 2018-2020 and recently joined the CDEM Curriculum and Assessment Committee.

I hold the CDEM community in high regard. I have made numerous connections through the national committees and it is wonderful to work among such a talented group of educators across the country. In the executive leadership capacity I would hope to serve the community at large, provide clear and concise communication, bring innovation to the board, and assist the president with their goals and visions so they can have a productive tenure.

Jose V. Nable, MD

Georgetown University School of Medicine

Thank you for considering me for a secretary position on CDEM’s executive committee! I graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and completed my EM residency training at the University of Maryland. I have served as Georgetown’s EM clerkship director since 2016. I have been a member of CDEM’s Visiting Students Task Force, and chaired that group in 2019-2020.

If elected to the CDEM Executive Committee, I will advocate continuing the exceptional progress CDEM has made to build us all up to succeed as clerkship directors. I credit CDEM for building the relationships and resources that I leverage to position and inspire our students to thrive. I firmly believe in cultivating equity and inclusion in our various clerkships, celebrating the diversity of our students, patients, and our faculty. As a member of the Executive Committee, I will champion the sharing of best practices related to equity initiatives within CDEM. This includes developing a toolkit to reduce bias in the assessment and evaluation of our students. I will also work with CDEM leadership to improve how our specialty handles away rotation applications, making for a fairer and more transparent process for both our students and clerkship directors. COVID has also highlighted pressing challenges surrounding medical student advising. Too many students struggled this year applying to our speciality. I will give voice for greater consensus in an approach to mentoring students that allows all our learners to succeed.

Giovanni Rodriguez, MD

Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital

Giovanni Rodriguez, MD was most recently the chief resident in the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Mass General Brigham in Boston, MA. She is now a Clinical Instructor at Harvard Medical School and faculty in Emergency Medicine at Mass General Hospital. She is also a current Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health Policy, Dr. Rodriguez has pursued innovative initiatives to address systemic health care disparities particularly for patients with limited English proficiency. Within the field of Emergency Medicine, she aspires to expand access to patients by strengthening programs that enhance the discharge processes, facilitate effective communication, and improve medical training health equity education. Dr. Rodriguez serves as chair of Residents and Fellows Committee for Center for Diversity and Inclusion at Massachusetts General Hospital. She received the 2023 DEI Resident Education/Innovation Award from the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine. She was a prior RAMS Board Member-at-Large and RAMS Board liaison to the ED Administration and Clinical Operations Committee, and currently serves as the AWAEM Didactic Committee Co-Chair.

Kathleen S. White, MD

Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

I am a second year emergency medicine resident at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. I did my medical training at the University of Kansas School of Medicine where I was heavily involved in the student run free clinics. I spent a year in a surgical pre-lim position before moving on to my current emergency medicine training program at Dartmouth. During my medical school and residency training, I developed a particular interest and passion in medical education and have become involved in the education of medical students who rotate through our department. With the assistance of our EM clerkship director, Dr. Kathy Clem, I developed a medical education track and a teaching elective within the residency. While many of the medical students I have had the pleasure of working with over the past year are female and females now make up more than half of medical students nationwide, there is still a dearth of female leadership, and as a result we're leaving a lot of talent on the table. Personally, I remember all the women role models in my life and career and how they have helped shape me and get to where I am in my young career and I aim to do the same for other young female physicians.

Andrea Fang, MD

Stanford University School of Medicine

I am excited for the opportunity to continue to serve as Treasurer of AWAEM’s Executive Committee, a position I currently hold and enjoy immensely. Using my finance skills from my prior life as an investment banker, I have worked to make our financials robust and developed a user-friendly budget model that I hope to pass down to my successors. I also have longstanding record of service to the AWAEM community and SAEM-at-large. I have served on multiple AWAEM & SAEM committees, starting while a trainee at Harbor-UCLA and continuing as a faculty member at Stanford University. During my tenure as chair of the AWAEM Awards Committee we saw the number of nominations more than triple and expanded the number of scholarships and awards available to women in academic emergency medicine. I have also chaired the AWAEM microsite committee and am currently chair of the pediatric emergency medicine sub-committee on the SAEM Membership committee. My experience shows that I can be an effective leader and team member who generates results. It has been an honor to be part AWAEM and I hope to continue our mission to elevate women in academic in emergency medicine as Treasurer on the AWAEM Executive Committee. Thank you for your consideration.

Ynhi Thomas, MD, MPH, MSc

Baylor College of Medicine

Dr. Ynhi Thomas serves as an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, the Assistant Medical Director for the Ben Taub Emergency Center, and the Assistant Director for Health Equity and Community Engagement for the Henry J.N. Taub Department of Emergency Medicine. Her multidisciplinary work is at the intersection of behavioral health, sex and gender medicine, and health equity. Her clinical training extended beyond the traditional scope, including fellowship training in Emergency Department (ED) leadership, operations, quality improvement, and health system development.

She has pioneered initiatives aimed at enhancing patient care and safety, specifically targeting our hospital’s behavioral health population. Among these are the development of a Behavioral Health Sorting Tool, influenced by trauma activation codes, that categorizes patient acuity based on presenting signs and symptoms. Recognizing the need for specialized care for patients with acute agitation, she also instituted a multidisciplinary Crisis Intervention Team, consisting of Emergency Medicine providers, psychiatry specialists, nursing staff, and security personnel. Further, she has formulated guidelines for a structured, team-based approach to the use of physical restraints, delineating clear roles and responsibilities to minimize risks to patients and staff. These endeavors have fortified her capabilities in team management and operational planning within the high-stakes, fast-paced environment of the ED.

As a physician-scientist, Dr. Thomas' contributions have been multifaceted, encompassing sex and gender medicine, healthcare inequities, interprofessional communication, team dynamics, and educational material development. Most recently, her focus has been directed towards behavioral health-centric studies, including investigations into sex and racial disparities in the use of physical restraints, as well as gender-specific variations in mental health screenings and post-injury trauma outcomes.

Dr. Thomas completed her Emergency Medicine residency and fellowship training in Leadership, Quality, and Administration at Baylor College of Medicine. She obtained MD at the University of Alabama School of Medicine and her MPH at the University of Alabama School of Public Health. She also has a Master of Science in Medical Anthropology from Oxford University. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons.

Sarah E. Pajka

The Ohio State University College of Medicine

I’m grateful to be considered for the role of medical student representative on the AGEM Executive Committee. I am currently a third-year medical student at the Ohio State University College of Medicine with plans to pursue a career in emergency medicine. My interest in geriatric care began in college, when I worked as a resident aide in an assisted living facility. Shortly after, I joined a social gerontology research lab and eventually graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health and published a thesis on the origins of hospice care in the United States. Prior to matriculation to medical school, I worked for two years as a research assistant in the emergency department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. There, I served as team lead for several studies and was introduced to the idea of geriatric emergency medicine, working to coordinate and publish work with Dr. Kei Ouchi on the use of brief negotiated interviews for advance care planning in the emergency department.

During my time as a medical student, I have served as the co-president of our geriatrics in medicine interest group and helped to organize several events to introduce students to the field. In 2020, I was selected for the Medical Student Training in Aging Research Program and presented original research with Dr. Rebecca Sudore investigating behavioral determinants to advance care planning for certain vulnerable populations. Additionally, I have helped to investigate the potential for arranging hospice care from the ED. I have been a member of SAEM since my first year of medical school and have seen the benefits that can only come from connecting a community of individuals with great ideas and strong motivation to enact them. I hope to join the AGEM executive committee to not only witness this exchange, but to contribute to it. If elected, I hope to establish clearer pathways and additional opportunities to involve medical students in the existing AGEM community through educational opportunities, discussion groups, and mentorship opportunities. Furthermore, I would like to help foster connection between current medical student trainees to build relationships and support a strong network of future geriatric EM physicians.

David Chesko

The Ohio State University College of Medicine

I am a first-year medical student at The Ohio State University. I completed my B.S. in Biomedical Science at Ohio State this past spring and am so excited to continue my medical education here in Columbus, OH. Though I am new to the SAEM and AGEM organizations, I have served on a few student organization committees such as President of Enlighten, an anti-human trafficking group at Ohio State, as well as secretary and president for the Ohio State Men's Rugby Club. As a medical student who is interested in emergency medicine and geriatrics, I hope to offer the committee the perspective of a medical student that provides insight into how incorporating a geriatric focus of emergency medicine can be strengthened during medical students' early years of training. More specifically, I hope to help develop the interprofessional focus of GEM education and increase the emphasis placed on the team mindset early on in medical education for future physicians.

Maurice Dick

Saint James School of Medicine

I hold a B.Sc in Agribusiness from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, Florida and a Postgraduate Diploma in Agri-Food Safety and Quality Assurance from The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. I was a medical student ambassador at SAEM 2021 and member of the Sim Academy Education Subcommittee, Research Committee. I recently wrote an article in SAEM Pulse titled, “5 Questions Research-Bound EM Medical Students Should Ask Attendings: An Interview with Dr. James Paxton” published November 2021. https://issuu.com/saemonline/docs/saem_pulse_nov-dec_2021/36

I am running for this position on the academy executive committee in order to increase student interest and awareness of geriatric care.

Jane M. Hayes, MPH

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

I am a fourth-year medical student at Washington University in St. Louis, and I plan to pursue a career as an emergency medicine physician. Last year, I was a Zuckerman Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and earned an MPH focused on health policy. I am passionate about serving vulnerable patients and systems improvement. As a student, I have been a leader in several organizations. Most notably, I co-founded and am the manager of the Bullet Related Injury Clinic in St. Louis, MO. This clinic helps patients who are discharged from our partnering emergency departments by providing low-barrier access to wound care, pain management, and other resources. This clinic has filled a crucial gap in care that existed in our city. I have also expanded my research to geriatric patients as they frequently experience unnecessary barriers to receiving optimal care.

I would like to be a resident representative to make involvement in AGEM more accessible for residents. I would like to focus on increasing opportunities for residents to get involved in research and advocacy with mentors. I also hope to increase the sense of community that residents feel as members of AGEM by hosting both formal and informal sessions throughout the year to build camaraderie and ensure that I am able to fully represent my fellow residents.

Kyle R. Burton, MD, MPP

Johns Hopkins University, Department of Emergency Medicine

While completing my B.S. in biology/chemistry from Howard University, I was selected to be an English-Speaking Union of the United States Luard-Morse Fellow, spending an academic year studying biochemistry at the University of Oxford. I also coordinated fundraising efforts for Teach a Child Africa during this year abroad, ultimately developing a health-focused curriculum and visiting Kenya to instruct recipients of our program for scholars orphaned to HIV/AIDS. I then enrolled at Harvard Medical School (HMS), where I was senior director for the affiliate hospital student-run health clinic – Crimson Care Collaborative. Additionally, I cofounded and directed the HMS Aesculapian Student Symposium, which provided a platform for sharing and engaging innovative peer undertakings. I spent an additional year in graduate studies at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government to complete my medical doctorate and master’s in public policy dual-degree program. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins in 2019, I consulted for the Boston Children’s Hospital Integrated Care Organization. Here, I advised on leveraging institutional networks to satisfy demands of the Massachusetts pediatric ACO – primarily addressing needs that significantly impact, but traditionally fall beyond, the scope of healthcare delivery.

The work that I have done, and the work that I plan to conduct, fully aligns with AGEM’s mission. To advance professional development and improve the quality of emergency care for older patients, I have developed EHR-integrated evidence-based guidelines for providers to reference. I want to continue learning and distributing strategies to optimize elderly care. To join the unified voice for geriatric emergency medicine and create forums to discuss advances, I have identified key breakthroughs in the field to share with my peers in conference presentations. The AGEM Executive Committee will introduce a world of insight on enhanced geriatric care delivery that I can share with my colleagues and inspire continued growth of this necessary field.

Thom Ringer, MD, JD, CCFP(EM)

University Health Network

I currently serve as medical director in the dvision of geriatric emergency medicine and as staff physician at University Health in Toronto, Canada. The need for a profound revolution in emergency care of older adults has becomes increasingly obvious even to the most recalcitrant clinicians and administrators. Meanwhile, the relevance, profile, influence, and robustness of the field of GEM continue to grow apace. "Wave 1" of GEM focused on making the case for better care. "Wave 2" has been about creating an evidence base and a research and education infrastructure, laying the foundation for "Wave 3," which is about implementation and knowledge translation. The imperative for GEM advocates is now to rapidly scale and share evidence-based innovation and find powerful new ways to drive better care out beyond academic centres of excellence and into community, rural, critical access, and developing world settings.

As a GEM advocate focused on implementation and administration, with experience driving an ambitious GEM change initiative at a senior level at Canada's largest academic teaching system, I believe I am uniquely suited to help AGEM contribute to lead Wave 3. I bring a combination of management consulting expertise, a practical mindset, and an entrepreneurial spirit. I am an enthusiastic collaborator, and believe in the power of networks and mentorship as catalysts for change. I am eager to bring new members into the GEM community, amplify my colleagues and collaborators' accomplishments, and find creative new relationships with government, philanthropy, and the private sector.

Cameron Gettel, MD, MHS

Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine

Yale University

Cameron Gettel, MD, MHS, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, a Clinical Investigator at the Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), and a Co-Director of the Yale Emergency Scholars Fellowship. Dr. Gettel's research aims to advance the understanding of emergency department care transitions in the growing geriatric population. Dr. Gettel has led work with the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the American College of Emergency Physicians respectively addressing fundamental emergency workforce topics and developing innovative models to improve quality measure reporting within the specialty. Dr. Gettel received a BS from Elizabethtown College and an MD from Pennsylvania State College of Medicine. He completed residency in Emergency Medicine at Brown University followed by a health services research and policy fellowship in the National Clinician Scholars Program at Yale University. 

Sarah Elizabeth Keene, MD, PhD

Beaumont Health

I am the current geriatric emergency medicine fellow at Beaumont Health in Royal Oak, Michigan. I have a PhD in virology from the University of Michigan as well as an MD from Wayne State University. Beaumont has a very strong geriatric emergency medicine history, with a geriatric emergency medicine fellowship since 1998. I have been involved in our geriatric emergency medicine initiatives since my intern year, including our accreditation as a Level 2 geriatric emergency eepartment in 2020. I have presented our research into the benefits of our geriatric emergency medicine assessment team at ACEP and SAEM, and have several additional research projects involving older adults ongoing. I joined the AGEM didactics committee this year and have found the work of putting together didactic proposals for SAEM to be very rewarding. As AGEM secretary, I would continue to work together with AGEM members to accomplish our goals of improving geriatric emergency care by promoting AGEM’s educational opportunities at the medical school, residency, and fellowship levels.

Frances Russell, MD

Indiana University

Frances Russell, MD is a tenured associate professor of emergency medicine and the ultrasound research director in the division of ultrasound at the Indiana University School of Medicine. She earned her Doctor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. She completed her residency training at the University of Connecticut and completed an ultrasound fellowship at Rush Medical Center and Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Russell’s research interests include point of care ultrasound for acute heart failure and undifferentiated shortness of breath. She has over 50 peer-reviewed publications, has received external grant funding from the NIH NHLBI and American Heart Association, in 2021 received the SAEM Academy of Ultrasound Academic Excellence Award and in 2023 received the SAEM Academy of Ultrasound Most Prolific Researcher Award.
Dr. Russell currently serves as the Research Officer for the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine Academy of Emergency Ultrasound and ACEP Ultrasound Research Subcommittee co-leader. She has been a speaker at the ACEP Ultrasound Management Course, Rocky Mountain Winter Conference, and The Heart Course.

Hamid Shokoohi, MD, MPH

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine

Harvard Medical School

In addition to his role as Associate Professor, Dr. Hamid Shokoohi is Fellowship Director at the Harvard Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship Program at Mass General and Brigham in Boston. He has over 150 peer-reviewed publications and has won multiple national and international awards for academic excellence and teaching, including the National Faculty of the Year for Ultrasound Research in 2013, the Teaching Excellence Award in 2022, and others. He has established educational programs worldwide and regularly participates in medical education initiatives in underdeveloped countries. He currently serves as the chair of the AEUS Committee on Professional Development.

Robert T. Stenberg, MD

Cleveland Clinic Akron General

I am the emergency ultrasound director at Cleveland Clinic Akron General, and am running for the Treasurer position. I completed medical school at the University of Wisconsin, residency at University of North Carolina and ultrasound fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2019. I am the residency program’s emergency ultrasound clerkship director for students and also serve as a clinical assistant professor for NEOMED and OUHCOM. I am a passionate educator with special interests in procedures, critical care and regional anesthesia; I have given multiple lectures at the local, state and national level.

Over the last few years, I have grown to appreciate AEUS and its excellent group of people by attending SAEM’s conference and SonoGames; and, I have a strong interest in increasing my involvement. This year, I will be helping create questions for SonoGames.

While I have minimal experience on national executive committees, I am reliable, and I believe I have the right energy and mindset to make a positive impact on AEUS’s community and mission. If elected, I would do my best to fulfill the role of treasurer. In addition, I would like to expand on educational resources, including increasing the resources available so people may take gamification (SonoGames) for education back to their programs and learners.