In July, our EM residency became complete as we welcomed our third class of residents into our program. The interns are settling in well and making us proud, despite the continuing challenges of the pandemic. Our entire emergency department continues to adapt and work as a team to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Our PGY-3s volunteered to add additional medical ICU coverage in response to unprecedented numbers of patients suffering from COVID-19.

We welcomed a new group of medical students into our department to complete their EM rotations. We are gearing up for another interview season and are looking forward to meeting all the candidates.

Despite the constraints of the pandemic, we are collaborating with nearby programs to plan joint ultrasound training events. Many of our residents and faculty are looking forward to attending (hopefully in-person) ACEP in Boston in October.

In the research world, we welcomed Dr. Wegman to our core faculty group. He will be leading our resident-faculty research efforts. Dr. Bosely, PGY-3 will be presenting his scholarly project with the help of faculty member Dr. Davis at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare in January. Dr. Lofgran, PGY-3 was recently awarded a grant to support his research on the effects of NSAIDS on hypothermia in rats. Drs. Côté and Baker, PGY-2s, participated in FCEP’s Case Presentation Competition and are looking forward to competing again next year.

On the horizon, OPMC has begun plans for construction of a new simulation center! We recently welcomed ultrasound fellowship-trained faculty, Drs. Hoffman and Carr, who are both certified in resuscitative transesophageal echocardiogram. With their help, we are training all three resident classes in resuscitative TEE.

All in all, it has been a busy and exciting start to this new academic year! ■