News

Celebration of the Graduating Class of 2023

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Residents, fellows, faculty, staff and their families gathered on June 3, 2023 at The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering to celebrate the Residency and Fellowship Class of 2023.  The event was a celebration to honor the twenty graduates for their completion of their training programs and the beginning of their next journey. Congratulations to all of the graduates and to all award recipients at this year’s event. We are beyond proud of all their accomplishments and look forward to all the positive impacts they will make for patients and the medical field.

 

Discover. Teach. Heal Awards

  • Resident Discover Award: Danh Le, MD
  • Resident Teach Award: Shalini Nagaraj, MD
  • Resident Heal Award: Joseph Kim, MD
  • Resident Medical Student Teaching Award: Matthew Woo, MD
  • Faculty Discover Award: Phat Dang, MD
  • Faculty Teach Award: Balbino Lopez, MD
  • Faculty Heal Award: James Cyriac, MD
  • Faculty Exemplar Award: Christopher  Sauer, MD

Marilyn Patterson Champion of Care Awards

  • Staff: Emily Smith
  • Anesthesia Tech: Kevin Scott
  • CRNA: Juliet Williams, CRNA
  • Resident: Christina Han, MD
  • Fellow: Juliann Cho, MD
  • Faculty: Emily Chen, MD

Cynthia T. Anderson Award

  • Vivek Gulati, MD

Halappa N. Konchigeri Exemplar Award

  • Shalini Nagaraj, MD

Continued Growth in 2022 NIH Research Funding

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The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR), an independent nonprofit organization, has released the 2022 rankings of institutions, departments, and investigators’ funding received from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

With over 19 millions in NIH funding for 2022, UCI Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care received a total of $3.4M in NIH funds. We’ve achieved a ranking of 22 in the United States for clinical science departments. This exceptional accomplishment belongs to the three full-time research principal investigators who have worked tirelessly and collaborated with others to achieve this, as well as all the outstanding staff who support them.

In addition, Zeev N. Kain, MD was ranked #17 of top NIH-funded principal investigators in anesthesiology for 2022.

We extend our warmest congratulations to Zeev N. Kain, MD, Sean Ostlund, PhD,  Z. David Luo, MD, PhD and Sarah Martin, MD for their outstanding contributions.

View the entire 2022 Blue Ridge Research Rankings

Anesthesiology Residency Program 2023-24 Chief Residents Selection

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The Chief Resident Selection Committee are excited to announce the 2023-2024 UCI Anesthesiology Residency Program Chief Residents, Kurt Leininger, MD and Michael Ortman, MD. The chief residents are a key part of our anesthesia team, providing invaluable leadership, teaching and support for the residents. Thank you to the outgoing chiefs for their amazing leadership. We are looking forward to another amazing year.

2023 Orange County Medical Association (OCMA) Physicians of Excellence

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Image courtesy of Orange Coast

UCI Health is home to 190 doctors who have been named 2023 Physicians of Excellence  by the Orange County Medical Association (OCMA), more than any other hospital in the region.  The full list is published in the January 2023 issue of Orange Coast magazine. It is an honor to have the UCI Anesthesiologists included in the list.

To be eligible for OCMA recognition, physicians are required to:

  • Be certified by a member board within the American Board of Medical Specialties, a member board of the American Board of Osteopathic Medical Specialties or an equivalent board recognized by the Medical Board of California or Osteopathic Medical Board of California
  • Be in good standing with the Medical Board of California or Osteopathic Medical Board of California
  • Have maintained their primary practice in Orange County for the last five years
  • Have practiced within his/her specialty for the last five years

To be considered for the Physicians of Excellence award, doctors also are required to demonstrate achievements in at least two of the following criteria: physician leadership; teaching/mentoring; medical research/scientific advances; humanitarian service and unique contributions in community service.

UCI Health 2023 Physicians of Excellence – Anesthesiology

Kyle Ahn, MD Appointed Assistant Dean for UCI Graduate Medical Education

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Kyle Ahn, MD, associate clinical professor

Kyle Ahn, MD, associate clinical professor and vice chair for academic affairs for UCI Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care, has been appointed as the Assistant Dean for UCI Graduate Medical Education (GME). In his new role, Dr. Ahn will work with the GME Associate Deans to ensure high quality learning environments at UCI and participating sites, maintain institutional and program compliance with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and help support trainees and program leaders across all residency and fellowship programs.

Since joining UCI, he has served in several department leadership roles, including program director for our anesthesiology and combined pediatrics-anesthesiology residency programs, as well as the fellowship in regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine. Dr. Ahn has received numerous awards for teaching, curricular innovation, and leadership, including the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Innovation in Medical Education (2014), GME Award for Outstanding Residency Program Director (2019), and Department Faculty Exemplar Award (2021).

He has served as simulation instructor for Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology program and question writer for ASA’s Self-Education and Evaluation continuing medical education program as well as the American Board of Anesthesiology certification exam. He serves as a reviewer for several major journals in anesthesiology, ultrasonography, and graduate medical education, and an Expert Reviewer for the Medical Board of California.

To further illustrate his deep commitment to education and service, Dr. Ahn is also active in pathway programs, such as Pomona Academy for Youth Success (PAYS) Scholars, which provide support to local high school students from underrepresented backgrounds, helping them enter highly selective colleges and universities.

Congratulations to Dr. Ahn on his new role!

Sarah Martin, PhD Awarded with NIH K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award

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Sarah Martin, PhD, professor in-residence

Sarah Martin, PhD was awarded with the NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award. Her project, “Pain in children: clinical, patient experience, and resource utilization outcome disparities surrounding invasive emergency department procedures” will be executed within the UCI Center on Stress & Health with Zeev Kain, MD, MBA as mentor.

About the K23
The purpose of this program is to support the career development of individuals with a clinical doctoral degree, who have the potential to develop into productive, clinical investigators, and who have made a commitment to focus their research endeavors on patient-oriented research.

Award Project Title: Pain in children: clinical, patient experience, and resource utilization outcome disparities surrounding invasive emergency department procedures

PI: Sarah Martin, PhD

UCI Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care Contributions to Sustainability at UCI Health

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UCI Health has been recognized by Practice Greenhealth as a national leader in environmental sustainability winning two Circle of Excellence awards for 2022, the Circle of Excellence Award and Greenhealth Emerald Award..practice-greenhealth-awards-2022

The UCI Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care committee for Perioperative Conservation and Sustainability are proud contributors to receiving the awards for the following efforts:

  • Reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with purchased anesthetic gases by more than 60% and completely eliminating the use of desflurane, an inhaled anesthetic gas with the highest global warming potential
  • Developing and Implementing a Best Practice Advisory pilot program to lower fresh gas flow rate

Leading the initiative of reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is Darren Raphael, MD and supported by members of the committee: Scott Engwall, MD,  Rahki Dayal, MD and Aaron Przybysz, MD.

Read more: UCI Health honored for excellence in sustainability

Celebration of the Graduating Class of 2022

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The UCI Anesthesiology Residency and Fellowship Class of 2022 gathered on June 11, 2022 to celebrate their graduation from the Department’s training programs. Congratulations to all of the graduates and to all award recipients at this year’s event. We are beyond proud of all their accomplishments and look forward to all the positive impacts they will make for patients and the medical field.

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Discover. Teach. Heal

  • Resident Discover Award: Austin Nguyen, MD
  • Resident Teach Award: Ashvin Mehra, MD and Chan Jung, MD
  • Resident Heal Award: Kevin Park, MD
  • Resident Medical Student Teaching Award: Ashvin Mehra, MD
  • Faculty Discover Award: Greg Yoshikawa, MD and Katherine Chiu, MD
  • Faculty Teach Award: Jody Chou, MD
  • Faculty Heal Award: Katherine Chiu, MD
  • Faculty Exemplar Award: Jody Chou, MD

Marilyn Patterson Champion of Care Award

  • Staff: Emily Smith
  • Anesthesia Tech: Jose Rocha
  • CRNA: Sandy Le Bessette, CRNA
  • Resident: Ashvin Mehra, MD
  • Fellow: James Kahn, MD
  • Faculty: Katherine Chiu, MD

Cynthia T. Anderson Award

  • Kevin Park, MD

Halappa N. Konchigeri Exemplar Award

  • Kevin Park, MD

Shalini Shah, MD, to Serve on the ASA Educational Track Subcommittee on Pain Medicine

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Shalini Shah, MD, vice chair pain management

Shalini Shah, MD was invited by the President-Elect of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) serve as vice chair of the ASA Educational Track Subcommittee on Pain Medicine for the 2023 governance year.

The ASA Educational Track Subcommittee is part of the Committee on Professional Education Oversight. They are an integral part in the ASA’s governance and establish and make recommendations that supports the best interest of their members and the society.