“Trauma involving fractured or crushed bones or
spinal injuries makes up most of the trauma cases.”
—Dr. Robert Probe
Ed Childs, MD; Roy Smythe, MD; and Robert Probe, MD.
believes the trauma program at Scott &
White provides lessons that residents and
medical students training here won’t learn
elsewhere. “An acutely injured trauma
patient who’s going to the operating room
poses a much different set of problems than
a patient coming in to have planned cancer
surgery,” he says. He also acknowledges
how medicine’s view about trauma as a
specialty has evolved. This includes the
recognition that surgeons need specialty
trauma care training. “In the past, general
surgeons typically handled most trauma
cases,” he says. “But a lot of the things we
do now are more complex than a decade
ago, and require specialized training.”
Scott & White has created the Ben
Chlapek, DO, Emergency Medicine
Education Suite, in memory of Dr.
Chlapek’s longtime service to the
Emergency Department. Funds will go
toward educating future generations of
emergency medicine physicians who will
go on to serve many people around the
world after completion of their medical
training at Scott & White.
Scott & White’s trauma program also is
nationally recognized for its research. Dr.
Childs has received National Institutes of
Health (NIH) funding to investigate
hemorrhagic shock, a result of traumatic
injuries in which hyperpermeability—or
leakage—from the circulatory system
causes swelling and often complicates care.
“My research is aimed at preventing that
leakage,” he says.
The entire team is focused on meeting
the future needs of people throughout the
state and continuing to offer the right care
in the right place for people who need
trauma care. ■
Dr. Childs also is the assistant dean of faculty
development, Texas A&M Health Science Center
College of Medicine.
Dr. Probe also is a professor of surgery, Texas
A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.
Dr. Smythe also is a professor of surgery, Texas
A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.
*Scott & White Healthcare - Round Rock also has a
24-hour Emergency Department, soon to be
designated a Level IV trauma center. Seriously
injured patients are stabilized and transferred to the
Temple hospital.
sw.org | Winter 10 THE CATALYST
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