AdventHealth East Orlando

Updates from Florida’s

Emergency Medicine Residency Programs

AdventHealth East Orlando

By Shannon Caliri, DO, PGY-1

Hello, everyone! I am Shannon Caliri, one of the new “baby docs” here at AdventHealth East Orlando. Us interns are currently in our third month of residency and are trying to get acclimated to life as an ED resident. There are many obstacles to overcome and many, many new things to learn; but it is such an exciting time. We are doing procedures, rotating through different specialties, and learning from each and every one of our patients. We are all incredibly thrilled that we are now a part of such a great team and we are all striving to improve so we can make it even better.

This month the ED has been packed with COVID patients, and ICU beds are filling up fast with the most recent surge. The waiting room is consistently filled because of the many bed-holds preventing us from seeing new patients. Please, please, please get vaccinated, tell your loved ones to get vaccinated, and continue to wear your mask during these times. We need everyone to participate to win this battle.

Currently, our residency podcast is going through a rebranding process, and we will be up and running again soon. This podcast will aim at providing high quality EM content, board review and journal clubs, as well as highlighting our program. We will post an update once the podcast is ready to go!

Florida Atlantic University

By Tony Bruno, DO, PGY-2

The sweet days of summer are flying by in Southeast Florida. Big congratulations to all of our first-year residents on completing their first few months of residency! Our program remains impressed with how they have jumped in feet first.

We have been extremely busy the last few months. First off, we extend our program director Dr. Clayton a huge congratulations as she recently won the Health Care Educator Hero Award. This award is presented by the Palm Beach County Medical Society and is presented to those who are notably making a difference in healthcare. We are very fortunate to have Dr. Clayton leading our residency.

Our very own Dr. Daniella Lamour, PGY-2 and Dr. Thomas Peterson, PGY-3 were highlighted in an interview feature on NBC WPTV. The interview focused on the COVID-19 pandemic resurgence and the toll it has taken on ED physicians. Their eloquent and heartfelt representation of the situation we are all facing made us very proud. Read now by scanning the QR code. Despite working incredibly hard in the hospitals, we are still making time to enjoy ourselves and recharge. At one of our first in-person wellness events since the COVID-19 pandemic, we enjoyed an exciting game of kickball. This was a great event set up by Dr. Ali Syed, PGY-3 and faculty attending Dr. Benda. The game may have not been the most competitive, but the laughs and exercise made it an afternoon to remember.

Our residency has also continued to contribute to research and academia. Drs. Alter, Shih and Solano co-authored several commentaries regarding COVID-19 treatment. Meanwhile, recent graduate Dr. Alexander Busko, in association with Drs. Alter, Solano, Clayton, Hughes and Shih, presented a poster regarding the role of thromboelastography in treatment of geriatric traumatic brain injury patients. This was presented at the 2021 International Conference on Emergency Medicine. There were also multiple presentations given at the SAEM annual meeting and the American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting. ■