Fostering teamwork in collective pursuit of medical breakthroughs“Whether it’s pneumonia, stroke, heart attack or trauma injury, the one physician who sees all these patients — and who sees them first — is the emergency medicine physician. We interact with a broad spectrum of specialties on a regular basis. There’s no question it’s a team effort.” William Barsan, M.D. |
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Emergency medicine physicians like William Barsan are on the front lines of America’s health care system. More than 40 percent of patients admitted to U-M Hospitals come through the emergency department. Today’s emergency physicians are treating patients with complex medical conditions — patients who would have been in a hospital 20 years ago. So, when the National Institutes of Health wanted to create a new clinical research network to study neurological disorders and brain injuries, it made sense to base the network in the nation’s emergency departments. As principal investigator, Barsan will coordinate research conducted at 11 medical centers in the United States to compare different emergency treatments for stroke, seizures and brain injuries. Results from these studies will help doctors determine the best way to treat people with these devastating neurological conditions.