( continued from page 21) second oldest academic emergency department in the world, by only a few months, to USC in 1971) has just celebrated its 50th year in existence( yes, yes, the University of Cincinnati had the world’ s first ER residency in 1970, but without a formal academic department). For nations more like Lithuania, emergency medicine has only existed since 2018. As one would expect, while there are cultural and regional differences in the two systems, the same problems that plagued the start of emergency medicine 70 years ago are now being experienced by our Lithuanian counterparts: things that gray-haired emergency physicians recount to the residents with the old“ back in my day.”
By the end of the conference, we had fleshed out some ideas for a rotation, said our goodbyes and returned to our states of origin. As with most ideas following a conference, I fully expected this to be the end of the conversation. Unbeknownst to us in Louisville, 4,781 miles( 7,694 km) away, our colleagues in Kaunas got busy planning. An email reply came in October,“ We’ re ready.” With the support of our chair Dr. Jeremy Thomas, our program director Dr. Isaac Shaw, Dr. Dan O’ Brien and our department administrator, Ashlee Melendez, the Department’ s Global Health Observership is in its third year and third cohort. Our Lithuanian colleagues have been able to experience the University of Louisville’ s Emergency Department, the infamous Room 9 and to learn everything about gunshot wounds, info they desperately wanted to learn.
Our Lithuanian Observers have also had the opportunity to experience our complex EMS systems including preparation for mass casualties, firebased EMS, tactical medicine and helicopter-based EMS. They helped in the emergency operations center and water rescues in Bullitt County during the April flooding this year. While much of the Observership is focused on experience in emergency medicine and EMS systems, the residents also got to enjoy the many events that make Louisville so special. Our Observers participated with Louisville Metro Police Health and Safety Officers at Thunder Over Louisville, the Kentucky Derby and indulged in a tour with one of our many distilleries.
Although the Observership has provided varied academic and clinical opportunities for our Lithuanian colleagues, it has also assisted in the advancement of emergency medicine delivery in Lithuania, and brought our two programs closer together. Through international grand rounds and other collaborative efforts, our partnership has assisted in the creation of a chief resident program in Kaunas, improved point of care ultrasound training for our visiting residents and launched other projects and networks to improve the delivery of emergency medicine in Lithuania. We are also excited to have successfully sent our first cohort of emergency medicine residents to spend time in Kauno Klinikos to increase further collaboration between our two departments. Dr. Gellert was one of our residents to spend two and a half weeks in Kaunas as the first of our residents to represent our department in Kaunas. Our second cohort will be arriving in Kaunas
Dr. Kuzel is an emergency medicine physician at the University of Louisville Hospital.
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