Biography
I was hired in 2008 as a pediatric hospitalist and have continued to serve in this capacity for the last 13 years. Patient care activities include coverage of Physician Access Line (PALS) for pediatric consultation and transfers for local and rural community physicians, triage patient placement, admission, stabilization, and coordination of care to including social, management and treatment of care. I was part of the original team created for procedural sedation and central line placement, and coverage for Carrie Tingley Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit. With my work experience in the Adult and Pediatric Emergency Department prior to medical school, I am very proficient in bedside procedures. I have a special interest in social disparities and community involvement related to this. As a result, I created a UNMSOM, student-driven, pediatric clinic at Cuidando Los Ninos, a preschool for children who are experiencing homelessness.
I participate with winter planning with our hospitalist group and with the multi-disciplinary leadership teams regarding Winter Surge to help with workflow, address bed capacity needs and patient safety. Additionally, I created a committee with nursing and residents to develop a family center care model of practice. I have work on implementation of many quality improvement initiatives, including the creation of a bronchiolitis discharge process that resulted in a 20-30% improvement in discharge time by 11am which increased throughput and Pediatric Emergency Department safety based on bed movement.
I was fully engaged during the Children’s Hospital COVID planning and response. I provided clinical input to inpatient COVID team design, inpatient bed, isolation and PPE guidelines and participated with the Pediatric Emergency Department in testing needs for inpatient transfer. Additional duties were around Behavioral Health service needs and collaboration with hospitalist service when patients were found to be COVID positive. I drafted and collaborated with key stakeholders in creating evaluation and management pathways for Multi Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. These pathways were shared with pediatric providers across New Mexico and I am the point person working with DOH in reporting MIS-C for CDC.
I am active in clinical service with 60% of my time spent on the inpatient service. I have continued to be a top RVU performer and my clinical productivity is above my group average. I have received multiple clinical service awards and have been nominated four times for the ABQ Magazine “Top Doctors” award. I am currently in the 2020 Medical Leadership Academy, and look forward to the next areas of clinical leadership.
Research and Scholarship
I derive professional satisfaction in the collaboration with others while helping to improve pediatric care. These initiatives have helped me foster greater relationships across multi-disciplinary areas, allowing for a cohesive process to improve patient care.
After finishing residency, I had a slow start to scholarly activity, but I am now active in mentorship of residents and medical students. My primary focus is related to quality improvement, with a special interest in social determinants in healthcare. I have partnered with nurses, pharmacists, case management, medical students, residents and my colleagues within all areas that intersect with pediatric care, including the Pediatric Emergency Department, Pediatric Surgery, Dermatology, ENT, and Pharmacy, and UNM School of Nursing. My next big endeavor is sepsis improvement throughout our pediatric care areas. I have created a committee and have petitioned for hospital support to join with Children’s Hospital IPSO (Improvement in Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes) collaborative.