Education Schedule

Here is the core of what makes the SEMPA 360 conference a step above the rest - the most comprehensive EMPA education program available - and truly covers emergency medicine from every angle!

SEMPA 360 courses and hands-on workshops provide essential clinical content and vital risk-management concepts.

Course content and faculty subject to change.

All times listed are Pacific Daylight Time.

Monday, April 4, 2022

Workshop: Critical Procedures in Emergency Medicine: A Hands on Experience
Andy Godwin, MD, FACEP

This course is designed to help practitioners meet a significant number of their procedural requirements listed for EM Certificate of Added Qualifications. We will provide expert instruction on procedural skills including ultrasound-guided central venous access, lumbar puncture with and without ultrasound guidance, tube thoracostomy and needle decompression, intraosseus, paracentesis and athrocentesis.

Workshop: Slit Lamp
Jason Knight, MD, MBA, FACEP

During this hands-on workshop, faculty will focus on how to perform a comprehensive eye exam from start to finish. We will teach you how to use a slit lamp, a tonopen, a panoptic and an ophthalmoscope. You also will learn how to test visual fields, extra-ocular muscles, and how to call excellent ophthalmology consults. Additionally, you will learn how to use an ophthalmic burr and how to remove ocular foreign bodies using a real tissue eye model. There also will be an interactive case-based discussion with visual diagnosis slides and multiple case studies.

Workshop: Critical Care Symposium
Mike Winters, MD, MBA, FACEP, FAAEM

This course is designed to help practitioners meet a significant number of their procedural requirements listed for EM Certificate of Added Qualifications. We will provide expert instruction on procedural skills including ultrasound-guided central venous access, lumbar puncture with and without ultrasound guidance, tube thoracostomy and needle decompression, intraosseus, paracentesis and athrocentesis.

Workshop: Postgraduate Education Summit
Ann Verhoeven, PA-C, MMSc and Fred Wu, MHS, PA-C

This event will include ARC-PA representatives giving an update on postgraduate program accreditation, talks on innovations in medical education by an education fellowship-trained EMPA postgraduate program medical director, and audience participation with small group discussions led by established EMPA postgraduate program faculty. Topics will include best practices for curriculum, resident evaluation, interviewing, remediation and wellness. Program directors, faculty, and those interested in starting a postgraduate program are encouraged to attend and collaborate.

Workshop: Critical Procedures in Emergency Medicine: A Hands on Experience
Andy Godwin, MD, FACEP

This course is designed to help practitioners meet a significant number of their procedural requirements listed for EM Certificate of Added Qualifications. We will provide expert instruction on procedural skills including ultrasound-guided central venous access, lumbar puncture with and without ultrasound guidance, tube thoracostomy and needle decompression, intraosseus, paracentesis and athrocentesis.

Workshop: Basic Ultrasound
Petra Duran Gehring, MD, RDMS

Focused, goal-directed ultrasound (US) can be used at the patient’s bedside to answer specific clinical questions which could change the next step in management and expedite patient care. In this workshop, participants will learn the basics of clinical ultrasound (CUS) and how to employ it to answer clinical questions. Short didactic sessions will be followed by instructor-led, small group, hands-on skill sessions utilizing live models. Topics to be covered will include the FAST exam, renal, gallbladder and abdominal aorta imaging protocols.

Workshop: Ventilator Management
Mike Winters, MD, MBA, FACEP, FAAEM

Critically ill patients are intubated and initiated on mechanical ventilation daily in EDs across the country. Given the prolonged boarding time of many, the ED provider frequently needs to manage the ventilator. In this hands-on workshop, the speakers will discuss and
demonstrate various ventilator pearls and pitfalls for the ED PA.

Workshop: Pediatric Emergency Medicine Bootcamp
Carol Chen, MD, MPH

The Pediatric Emergencies Bootcamp is a collection of short lectures (10minutes) and small group case
discussions designed to provide you with practical tips to manage high-risk pediatric patients. You will be provided with a brief handout on four topics by pediatric emergency medicine experts that you will be expected to view prior to the course. During the course, you will receive a short, 10-minute lecture on each topic followed by a discussion of pertinent cases in small groups with each of the 4 experts.

Critical Care Literature Update
Mike Winters, MD, MBA, FACEP, FAAEM

Life-Threatening Weakness: Don’t Get Fooled by the Diagnosis
Andy Perron, MD, FACEP

Weakness is generally a non-specific complaint that can have a myriad of causes.  There are, however, a few specific causes of acute life-threatening weakness that the clinician needs to watch out for as they have specific treatment pearls and associated pitfalls.

Stop the Pounding: Approach to Headache
Matt Siket, MD, FACEP

Acute headaches can be challenging to diagnose and manage in the Emergency Department. Knowing which patients warrant neuroimaging, how to best devote diagnostic resources and how to efficiently and effectively manage pain will be the focus of this session. We will review current guidelines and discuss a stepwise, evidence-based management strategy for the acute headache to streamline and simplify our approach to this cranial conundrum.

Spinal Pathology: Striking the Right “Cord” with your Diagnostic Skills
Andy Perron, MD, FACEP

Spinal emergencies can present in a subtle fashion and pose a diagnostic challenge. Knowing what to look for, how to find it, and what to do when you see it is critical in the care of these patients.

Subtle Presentations of Devastating Neurologic Conditions
Matt Siket, MD, FACEP

Vague neurological complaints are among the most challenging to accurately diagnose in the Emergency Department. In this session, we will explore some less common, but potentially deadly neurological conditions that we should all be aware of. By the end of this session, you should be more comfortable with subtle neurological complaints and equipped with the tools to more diagnose these patients more accurately and manage them more efficiently in the acute setting. 

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Fundamentals of Pediatric Resuscitation
Emily Rose, MD, FAAP, FAAEM, FACEP

In some critically important ways, children are not little adults. Children differ in airway management, the presentation and management of sepsis differs, there are subtleties in the evaluation and management of trauma patients and unique complications in pediatric diabetic ketoacidosis.

High Risk Orthopedics Part I
Andy Perron, MD, FACEP

Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young Athlete: When Lightning Strikes
Andy Perron, MD, FACEP

Acute weakness is a common complaint in the ER. There are a few cases of acute weakness that are life-threatening. This lecture will help the provider to identify and treat these.

ENT Nightmares
Jason Knight, MD, MBA, FACEP

High Risk Orthopedics Part II
Andy Perron, MD, FACEP

Mastering Pediatric Respiratory Emergencies
Emily Rose, MD, FAAP, FAAEM, FACEP

Children are uniquely predisposed to respiratory distress and 95% of all pediatric cardiac arrest occurs
secondarily to a respiratory etiology. The speaker will highlight important etiologies of pediatric respiratory
distress as well as management pearls in treating the child in respiratory distress.

MAT in the ED: Where Are We in 2022?
Arianna Campbell, PA-C and Joshua Luftig, PA-C

Treating opioid withdrawal in the ED with buprenorphine is proven to be an effective and pragmatic ED intervention. As overdoses continue to surge across the US, now is the time to update your practice and learn evidence-based approaches to addressing opioid use disorder. We will discuss the successes and lessons learned from CA Bridge program in California. We will also discuss fentanyl-related challenges, post overdose management as well as harm reduction strategies that could save lives in your community.

Roundtable: Starting a MAT Program in your ED
Arianna Sampson Campbell, PA-C and Joshua Luftig, PA-C

Workshop: Stop the Bleed
Lee Morissette, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA

At the end of this course, learners will be comfortable with several common procedures in the emergency department. We will review the indications, key concepts, pearls and pitfalls of performing each procedure.

Workshop: Critical Procedures in Emergency Medicine
Andy Godwin, MD, FACEP

This course is designed to help practitioners meet a significant number of their procedural requirements listed for EM Certificate of Added Qualifications. We will provide expert instruction on procedural skills including ultrasound-guided central venous access, lumbar puncture with and without ultrasound guidance, tube thoracostomy and needle decompression, intraosseus, paracentesis and athrocentesis.

Workshop: Advanced Ultrasound
Petra Duran Gehring, MD, RDMS

Point-of-Care or Clinical Ultrasound (CUS) is essential to the management of critically ill Emergency Department patients and can improve patient care by altering treatment decisions based on the ultrasound examination.  In this workshop, CUS will be used to assess patients by building on basic ultrasound skills to take CUS to the next level.  Participants will learn more advanced modalities including cardiac, IVC and lung ultrasound. Short didactic sessions will be followed by instructor-led small group hands-on skill sessions utilizing live models.

Workshop: Slit Lamp
Jason Knight, MD, MBA, FACEP

During this hands-on workshop, faculty will focus on how to perform a comprehensive eye exam from start to finish. We will teach you how to use a slit lamp, a tonopen, a panoptic and an ophthalmoscope. You also will learn how to test visual fields, extra-ocular muscles, and how to call excellent ophthalmology consults. Additionally, you will learn how to use an ophthalmic burr and how to remove ocular foreign bodies using a real tissue eye model. There also will be an interactive case-based discussion with visual diagnosis slides and multiple case studies.

Workshop: Emergency Airway Management
Andrew Schmidt, MD, FACEP

During this course, participants will discuss and review current concepts in emergency airway management, including algorithms, the emergency provider is expected to know and employ in an airway emergency. A combination of didactic presentations, small group discussion, hands-on skills and simulation will be utilized to iterate, demonstrate, and reinforce the required concepts that are necessary for participation in airway management in common emergency practice.

Wednesday, April 6, 2022                                       EM:RAP Day

Ophthalmic Procedures in the Emergency Department
Jessica Mason, MD, FACEP

This lecture will review the importance and steps to perform: eyelid inversion, eyelid retraction, foreign body removal, corneal burr, pH check, and irrigation of the eye.

Two Troponins or One for Chest Pain: What’s the Standard in 2022?
Mike Weinstock, MD

This lecture will explore the most recent data and recommendations on management of patients who present to the emergency department with chest pain and have labratory evaluation to rule out myocardial infarction.

Medical Clearance of the Psychiatric Patient
Chris Colwell, MD, FACEP

This lecture will discuss the key principles in the evaluation of psychiatric complaints in the Emergency Department. 

GU Procedures in the Emergency Department
Jessica Mason, MD, FACEP

This lecture will review the importance and steps to perform: suprapubic catheter placement, dorsal penile nerve block, and priapism reduction.

The Latest and Greatest Trauma Literature
Chris Colwell, MD, FACEP

This lecture will discuss the best trauma articles of the last year.

Approach to Orthopedic Analgesia
Danielle Campagne, MD, FACEP

This lecture will go through pain control options for your next orthopedic case that does not include narcotics! Join in for an update on local
and regional blocks for orthopedic injuries.

Emergency Medical Abstract: Live!
Sanjay Arora, MD, and Mike Menchine, MD

Emergency Medicine is a constantly evolving field, and staying abreast of the medical literature is critical to providing patients with the best care possible. However, with the vast amount of research published every month, this is a daunting task. In this two part session, the speaker will present some of the best and most clinically relevant papers from the last several years.  The pros and cons of each publication will be presented, and listeners can expect to take home some key points that will change their day to day practice.

Emergency Department Management of Non-Lethal Law Enforcement Weapons
Kenji Inaba, MD

Overview of common non-lethal weapon injuries for the trauma care provider.

Cases from the Bouncebacks! Files: If It’s Not in the Differential, It Won’t Be in the Diagnosis
Mike Weinstock, MD

Explore actual ED presentations and discuss an expanded differential diagnosis for a patient's symptoms.

Hemorrhage Control in the ED: Pearls from the Trauma Surgeon
Kenji Inaba, MD

Review of bleeding control principles.

EM:RAP Day
EM:RAP Meet and Greet

Roundtable: NCCPA Update - Focus on PANRE Alternative
Greg P. Thomas, MPH, PA-C Emeritus

Workshop: EKG Workshop: EKGs You’ve Got To Know!
Susan Torrey, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

An interactive review of 20 EKGs which are critical to acute care practice. 

Workshop: An Enhanced Suturing Workshop for Emergency Medicine Providers
Brian Lin, MD, FACEP

This workshop is a novel take on the suturing workshop, aimed specifically towards learners in emergency medicine, and utilizing best practices in educational theory to aid in learner skill acquisition and retention. The workshop was developed using a previously developed online video library of techniques created by the author.

Workshop: Critical Procedures in Emergency Medicine
Andy Godwin, MD, FACEP

This course is designed to help practitioners meet a significant number of their procedural requirements listed for EM Certificate of Added Qualifications. We will provide expert instruction on procedural skills including ultrasound guided central venous access, lumbar puncture with and without ultrasound guidance, tube thoracostomy and needle decompression, intraosseus, paracentesis and athrocentesis.

Workshop: Basic Ultrasound
Petra Duran Gehring, MD, RDMS

Focused, goal-directed ultrasound (US) can be used at the patient’s bedside to answer specific clinical questions which could change the next step in management and expedite patient care. In this workshop, participants will learn the basics of clinical ultrasound (CUS) and how to employ it to answer clinical questions. Short didactic sessions will be followed by instructor-led, small group, hands-on skill sessions utilizing live models. Topics to be covered will include the FAST exam, renal, gallbladder and abdominal aorta imaging protocols.

Workshop: Critical Management Skills for Acute Hand Injuries and Infections
James Marinucci, PA-C

Ever increasingly, emergency medicine and urgent care practitioners are being entrusted to handle both simple and complex hand injuries and infections. Proper assessment and management are essential to ensuring the best possible outcome for the patient. This workshop empowers emergency medicine providers with critical knowledge and essential skills in managing acute hand injuries and infections.

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Chest Pain and Pregnancy
Brittany Guest, DO

Chest pain in pregnancy has many different cause, some are benign while others are life threatening. This lecture will review some of the physiological changes in pregnancy and how we can start to differentiate normal changes in pregnancy from cardiovascular catastrophes. This lecture will focus specifically on myocardial infarctions, SCAD, pulmonary embolisms and post-partum cardiomyopathy. 

Advanced Laceration Management: Putting the Pieces Back Together
Brian Lin, MD, FACEP

This lecture explores some advanced techniques in would closure, including alternative and unconventional closure techniques, special situations such as scalp lacerations and evidence-based approaches to wound aftercare. If you attended the SEMPA 360 Virtual Conference in 2021, fear not! Dr. Lin has selected all new topics and videos to cover.

Tips for Talking to Patients in the Moment of Crisis
Ashely Shreves, MD

Patients commonly present to the ED at times of medical crisis and need important, high stakes decisions made quickly about the use of potentially life-sustaining treatments. Both patients and providers can be ill-equipped for this moment. We will discuss some helpful strategies to navigate these moments with a particular focus on being effective and efficient.

Hot as Hell: Hyperthermia Management Pearls and Pitfalls
Susanne Spano, MD, FACEP, FAWM

Hypothermic patients need special consideration, both in field treatment and in definitive care settings. When should you use invasive warming methods and which ones work? An ever-evolving field, hear the synopsis of the most recent recommendations from the WMS in addition to the controversey surrounding some of these recommendations.

Deadly Arterial Vascular Emergencies … and Why We Keep Missing Them
Brian Lin, MD, FACEP

Remember that abdominal pain patient you sent home last shift? He came back with a ruptured AAA.”
Those famous words that make your heart sink! We know that AAA, aortic dissection, and acute
mesenteric ischemia are deadly “can’t miss” diagnoses in the ED. Yet somehow, we continue to miss
them, or have delays in diagnosis that lead to increased morbidity and mortality for our patients. In this
talk, Dr. Lin will examine the cognitive errors and biases in medicine that lead us to make mistakes that
can sometimes lead to serious harm to our patients.

Stop the Belly Aching: Geriatric Abdominal Pain
Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD, FACEP

Abdominal pain is the most common atraumatic chief complaint among older patients. By 2030, 25 percent of all ED patients will be considered geriatric. This unique population is harder to diagnose while being more susceptible to increased morbidity. This session will focus on the abdominal issues that cannot be missed. Dr. Shenvi will present the keys to both physical exam findings and diagnostics that will make the care of these patients make you feel young again. 

Getting High: High Altitude Illnesses
Susanne Spano, MD, FACEP, FAWM

It is important to differentiate fever from hypothermia as the causes and management.

Brittle and Broken: Geriatric Trauma Pearls and Pitfalls
Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD, FACEP

Older adults will make up an even greater percent of ED patients in the coming decades. Unfortunately they are both more prone to injuries, and can be more challenging to diagnose and manage. The physiologic changes that occur with aging that contribute to frailty and reduced physiologic reserve will be reviewed, and tied into practical pears for diagnosis and treatment of older adults particularly with head injuries, rib fractures, hip fractures, and trauma in the anticoagulated patient.

Precipitous Deliveries
Brittany Guest, DO

Although deliveries are rare in the emergency room, it is critical that we understand how to manage some of the most common delivery complications. This lecture will review shoulder dystocia, breech delivery as well as how to diagnosis and what to do if find a prolapsed umbilical cord. This lecture will also review the indications and steps to performing a perimortem cesarean delivery. 

Reserve Judgement: Aligning with Patients at the End of Life
Ashely Shreves, MD

Occasionally, patients and families make choices for their medical care that are inconsistent with what the medical team believes is appropriate. This can create conflict and pit providers and patients against one another. Particularly when patients choose aggressive, invasive care near the end of life, it is often said by providers that they would never choose such things for themselves. We will explore the roots of these beliefs and in so doing, put us in a better position to guide patients and families during these challenging moments in their lives.

Workshop: Orthopedic Skills Lab
Danielle Campagne, MD, FACEP

This fun and interactive workshop will cover orthopedic dislocations and reduction techniques. We will discuss dislocations
of the shoulder, jaw, elbow and hip. Worried you have a septic joint in your patient? No problem! This workshop discusses
arthrocentesis and you will practice joint aspiration of the knee and ankle.

Workshop: Advanced Ultrasound
Petra Duran Gehring, MD, RDMS

Point-of-Care or Clinical Ultrasound (CUS) is essential to the management of critically ill Emergency Department patients and can improve patient care by altering treatment decisions based on the ultrasound examination.  In this workshop, CUS will be used to assess patients by building on basic ultrasound skills to take CUS to the next level.  Participants will learn more advanced modalities including cardiac, IVC and lung ultrasound. Short didactic sessions will be followed by instructor led small group hands-on skill sessions utilizing live models.

Workshop: Essential Management Skills for ENT Emergencies
James Marinucci, PA-C

Every provider should have solid ENT and dental management skills, yet there are limited opportunities for hands-on learning to develop these skills. This is a case-based workshop that will work through the diagnosis, management, pearls, and pitfalls of managing ENT and dental problems commonly presenting to the clinic, ER and urgent care settings. Participants will work with tools, techniques and tricks of the trade to develop the skills required to perform the most essential ENT procedures.

Friday, April 8, 2022

Why What You Do Is Meaningless … To Others That Is
Richard Cantor, MD, FACEP

Under Pressor! Utilizing Vasopressors in the ED
Peter Deblieux, MD, FACEP

Shock is a common presentation in the Emergency Department. Providers must understand the underlying disease process and the importance of choosing the correct vasopressor for a given clinical condition. Vasopressor recommendations and goals of care for sepsis, cardiogenic shock and undifferentiated shock will be reviewed.

Diving Your Patient: Emergency Indications for Hyperbaric Treatment
Christian Tomaszewski, MD, MS, MBA, FACEP

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment can be a brain and limb saver in a few but critical conditions. The speaker will review those rare cases that require consultation and treatment in an emergency hyperbaric center.

Mechanical Ventilation in the ED: Which Dial Do I Turn?
Peter Deblieux, MD, FACEP

Instituting positive pressure mechanical ventilation can be an intimidating process. This
presentation will demystify respiratory failure and the initiation of mechanical ventilation by reviewing common indications and pitfalls.

Challenging Cases in Toxicology
Christian Tomaszewski, MD, MS, MBA, FACEP

The course will present several critical cases highlighting the role of early assessment of intoxication and timely intervention with antidotes and other treatments