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After speaking at a conference in Turkey , Dr . O ’ Brien was introduced to the President of Emergency Medicine in Poland who requested he give that same EMS talk at another conference on Central Europe Emergency Medicine . That opportunity led to several more conferences and a series of relationships built with emergency professionals around the world .

Sons Wesley and Jonathan in Ireland

Back in Louisville , Dr . O ’ Brien now serves U of L as a Professor of Emergency Medicine and holds the additional titles of ‘ Director of International Medicine ’ and ‘ Ultrasound Fellowship Director .’ The latter is brand new , an emerging opportunity created after Dr . O ’ Brien realized the potential of the platform .

“ Ultrasound is one of the few technologies recently introduced to medicine that has produced better patient safety and care , and improved the physician-patient relationship ,” he said , explaining that ultrasound can augment a physician ’ s senses and push the boundaries capable within a physical exam .

“ If something turns sour in the ICU , you can have a hospital full of specialists but in that moment , there is nothing but you and the patient . Ultrasound can reduce the margin of error . It can tell you , ‘ Wow this person has a pulmonary embolism or this person is in septic shock .’ You can get substantial amounts of data with , frankly , not a lot of training . I believe down the road you ’ re going to see physicians carrying ultrasounds with them . They ’ re getting that small and more affordable .”

The fellowship program begins this year , and Louisville is one of the earliest adopters of the technology in the US . “ What ’ s beautiful about ultrasound is that it brings the doctor back to the patient ,” he said . “ The patient knows they ’ ve been examined . The doctor is reminded that he ’ s taking care of patients . The intel he collects is actionable . It might actually save the physician-patient relationship until something else gets in the way .”

When he isn ’ t working with an emergency service , serving in the ER or giving talks overseas , Dr . O ’ Brien loves photography and said some of his favorite international locations to photograph were Poland , Hong Kong and Ireland . He has three children : Kirsten , Wesley and Jonathon and a granddaughter , Kylee . He ' s an avid cyclist and recommends cycling abroad as the best way to get to know people and local culture . His riding companion and the love of his life is Dr . Kristine Krueger . “ Call her my lovely bride , she ’ ll get a kick out of that ,” he said .

The young boy who used a cardboard sphygmomanometer in his dad ’ s office could hardly have imagined that he would , among many things , one day be teaching other countries how to organize and care for their patients better . He had dreams of space , so maybe a world-traveling physician is the next best thing .

“ There ’ s a final common pathway in all this ,” Dr . O ’ Brien said . “ I ' m a firm believer that people should be empowered to make their own health decisions , but often people are in a situation where they can ’ t make a choice about their health care . In that environment , when people are essentially helpless , it ’ s nice to figure out a way to get them the highest quality care they can get . That echoes through a lot of choices in my career .”

Aaron Burch is the communications specialist for the Greater Louisville Medical Society .

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