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EMERGENCY
MEDICINE
versity of Texas; started a major residency; started a core clerkship Another new technology, developed right here in San Antonio,
for over 200 students per year and now look forward to opening a that is benefiting emergency medicine is the EZ-IO Intraosseous
new Pediatric Emergency Room in 2016.” Vascular Access System which provides fast vascular access for the
delivery of essential medications and fluids.
This is the first civilian emergency medicine residency program
in South Texas and it is being overseen by Dr. Andrew Muck, an Muck, an Air Force veteran who did a tour in Afghanistan, has
assistant professor in the department. After launching three years helped to train the students to work in extreme conditions of hot
ago, they are preparing for their first batch of 10 graduates later and cold weather. The program has conducted training exercises at
this summer. local parks with simulated explosions and shootings where the stu-
dents had to react to situations in different environments.
Emergency medicine has gotten a big boost in recent years from
new technologies and is exploding as a specialty in the medical field, Muck said that the life of an emergency medicine doctor is not
Muck said. Portable ultrasound equipment is making it possible for like what you see on TV with the constant excitement and glamor.
doctors to make rapid diagnoses of patients in emergency situations. The most common ailments they see regularly are for chest and ab-
dominal pains, broken bones and sprains and the occasional skin
“These are exciting times with all the new technological advance- rash. But Muck said the thing the doctors pride themselves on the
ments,” he said. “We are one of the first labs to train all of our stu- most is when they can make that difficult diagnosis that helps to
dents in the use of ultrasound equipment.” save a patient’s life.
In the hands of a trained individual, the portable ultrasound “The symptoms don’t read the textbooks,” Muck said. “That is
equipment can be used to quickly rule out certain life-threats, Muck what we teach our students. We train them to not miss those subtle
said, making sure there is not an aortic aneurism or some other se- presentations of a life-threatening disease.”
rious internal condition.
Mike W. Thomas is the director of communications for the Bexar
“If I can look at those things quickly it can make a big differ- County Medical Society and editor of San Antonio Medicine magazine.
ence to the patient,” he said. “We are essentially diagnosticians
who are responsible for triaging patients and getting them to the
best specialty.”
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