Program in Trauma

Director: Thomas M. Scalea, MD
Professor, Department of Surgery

The Program in Trauma is organized as a multidisciplinary clinical, educational and research component within the School of Medicine. The program's core service includes general surgery, critical care, orthopaedics, plastic surgery, anesthesia, infectious disease and hyperbaric medicine. The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center is defined in Maryland law as the "core component of the state's emergency medical system and shall continue to serve as the state's primary adult trauma clinical resource center" for Maryland's comprehensive system of emergency services. The center is designated by Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) as the Primary Adult Resource Center (PARC) for trauma and also serves as the designated Neurotrauma Center. Shock Trauma is a statewide referral site for patients with multisystem injury, acute complex orthopaedic injury, spinal cord and column injuries, brain injury, hyperbaric medicine therapy, and patients who are at risk for multiple organ dysfunction.

Shock Trauma serves as Maryland's principle teaching site for training physicians and allied professionals in the care of injury. The trauma/critical care training program involving the trauma teams and all other specialty services includes students and residents from a variety of prestigious schools and programs across the country. Students and residents participate in patient care, core curriculum lectures, case conferences and weekly grand rounds. Students and residents are also given the opportunity to participate in clinical research trials.

Undergraduate Medical Program

Third Year

GSUR 530. A three-week trauma team rotation is required as part of the basic surgical clerkship. Students participate under supervision in the clinical resuscitation, diagnosis, and management of trauma and emergency medicine.

Fourth Year

GSUR 546 01. Senior students may elect a one-month elective on the trauma surgery team.

Graduate Programs

In conjunction with the Department of Surgery, an approved surgical critical care fellowship is offered with three months on the trauma surgical team and rotations through all the UMMS intensive care units. Successful completion leads to eligibility for a certificate of added qualification in surgical critical care. An approved orthopaedic trauma fellowship is also offered at the Shock Trauma Center. Finally, a one-year fellowship in trauma anesthesia is offered. Over the past two decades, graduates of these fellowships have become leaders in trauma across the country and abroad.