Medical Student Council President’s Message Spotlight On Leaders in Emergency Medicine: Tom Scaletta, MD FAAEM

Tom Scaletta, MD FAAEM

Originally Published: Common Sense, November/December 2012
Original Author: Mary Calderone, MS3
AAEM/RSA Medical Student Council President

The “Spotlight On” Series re-started by Dr. Leana S. Wen, AAEM/RSA President, will be continued this year by Mary Calderone, AAEM/RSA medical student council president. The “Spotlight On” Series features interviews with leaders in emergency medicine. The seventh installment is a conversation with a leader in EM and AAEM: Dr. Tom Scaletta. Dr. Scaletta is chair and medical director for Edward Hospital ED in Naperville, IL, and served as AAEM’s president from 2006-2008.


MC: What is your current position, and how did you get to it?
Dr. Scaletta: My first job was at San Francisco General (a county hospital/trauma center). We were a division of surgery and without our own EM residency program. I did work with many brilliant UCSF

Resident Journal Review: An Update on Airway Management in Emergency Medicine

Originally Published: Common Sense, Nov/Dec 2012

Original Authors: Authors: Michael Allison, MD; Michael Scott, MD; Kami Hu, MD; David Bostick, MD; Daniel Boutsikaris, MD

Edited by: Michael C. Bond, MD FAAEM; Jay Khapde, MD FAAEM

 There are few clinical skills as important to the emergency physician as emergency airway management. The field of airway management is constantly changing, and the practicing physician must keep abreast of the current trends in laryngoscopy, medication management, prehospital intubation, and the potential complications of intubation. Reviewed here are some of the key airway-related articles published over the past two years.

Direct Laryngoscopy Compared to Video Laryngoscopy

A Young Emergency Physician Appreciates the History of US Emergency Medicine Through the Lens of China's Emergency Departments

Originally Published: Common Sense, November/December 2012 
Original Author: Leana Wen, MD MSc, AAEM/RSA President

I’m a senior EM resident — a young emergency physician, part of the “new breed” that’s always known emergency physicians to be residency trained, and EM as a well-respected field. Being part of AAEM, I’ve heard our leaders talk about the struggles they had in establishing our specialty, but I didn’t have a sense of what they actually went through. Why is it that they so dislike the term “emergency room” and cringe at references to “ER doctors?”

The Value of Emergency Medicine - How an Emergency Medicine Resident Needed the ED

Originally Published: Common Sense, September/October 2012
Original Author: Leana Wen, MD MSc, AAEM/RSA President

As emergency physicians who are trained in acute resuscitation and thrive in high-stress situations, we tend to roll our eyes at the less acute complaints our patients come in with. “Back pain for three months? Headache for a week? Why are they here now?” I admit that I’ve grumbled about the so-called “inappropriate use of the ED,” especially in the wee hours of the morning.

Resident Journal Review: Pulmonary Embolism

Originally Published: Common Sense Sep/Oct 2012

Original Authors: Susan Cheng, MD MPH; Jonathan Yeo, MD; Eli Brown, MD; Allison Regan, MD

Edited by: Michael C. Bond, MD FAAEM; Jay Khadpe, MD FAAEM

This Resident Journal Review focuses on pulmonary embolism (PE), a disease that remains a considerable diagnostic challenge for the emergency physician given its high risk for significant morbidity and mortality.