News

Lithuanian Emergency Medicine Doctors Continue Their Residency at Cincinnati Hospital

04/04/2018

Continuing a 7 step program to expose 24 Lithuanian Physicians training in the specialty of Emergency Medicine about how to manage and direct Emergency Medicine Departments in community hospitals, 4 more young residents from Lithuania joined Emergency medicine doctor Herb Loyd, head of Emergency medicine at Cincinnati hospital Kurt Knochel and their incredible team of experts for 5 weeks.

Two of the residents, Ieva Paliokaite and Andrius Cernauskas, share their gratitude and experience while on their way home already:

Andrius Cernauskas:

"In my emergency medicine residency it seems that there were enough literature about ideas how everything should look like and act. However, if under current conditions it was difficult to imagine the practice of how it can work and how to coordinate everything, bigger worries were about lack of support and understanding from the surrounding colleagues and seniority where emergency medicine should develop, this project would, if not replace the latter element, at least consolidate the former. When we reach the first, the second I think would be easier to establish.

It's amazing to see how smoothly the American Emergency Department works and to get into a different work culture. During the project, we had the opportunity to stay in couple Emergency Departments, to make sure that work in the unequal level and busyness patient flow is still smooth. It's nice to talk to people who love their work, do not hide it, are just driven by it and share amazing insights about it, and communicate well with the patient. Everyone looks, from a cleaner or technician to a director, knows and feels his role and is the most professional in it.

I want to send especially big thank to the Kazickas Family Foundation for financial support for this project. This project is vital for raising the level of emergency medicine and all medicine in Lithuania. I also want particularly thank Dr. Loyd, who took care of us during the entire internship, from morning till evening, set our schedules daily, with his wife and children, he fulfilled our desires and requests, he took care of meeting the most impressive specialists on time and place, who inspired us with the knowledge and confidence that emergency medicine can work great, also slowed down us a little bit that everything will happen not as urgently as they wanted and as we want.

I want to thank everybody who were involved in this project and I feel that it changed me in a good manner as a specialist and now it‘s time to start changes in Lithuanian emergency medicine thinking as well."

Ieva Paliokaite:

"I am PGY5 emergency medicine resident from Kaunas, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. I am one of the lucky ones who had an opportunity to participate in Cincinnati program.

The first and most importantly, I'd like to express my gratitude to all of you at the Kazickas Family Foundation for this opportunity to connect two communities of emergency medicine: the youngest program and the oldest, most experienced EM community in the world. Thank you for the opportunity to make history of Lithuanian Emergency Medicine together.

My project is related to the new nurse practitioner study program at our university, graduate program (2 years) with 3 sub-specialties: primary care, anesthesia and emergency care. Emergency nurse practitioners are my responsibility and my interest because as a lecturer at the Emergency Medicine Department I teach these students.

Teaching world is new to me, so it is new experience and big responsibility. I'm still learning all aspects of nursing. This study program is very young, has no traditions - it reminds me of our residency program and our experience being the first ones in everything. All these things together led me to my project. My goal during this visit to USA was to see and understand the role of nurse practitioner in the Emergency Departments, to learn their study programs and methods.

My goal was accomplished. I met wonderful nurse practitioners, who introduced me to their study programs and I was constantly amazed by their skills during the shifts. I also met two professors at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Nursing who gave me an opportunity to observe few classes and provided many suggestions and insights how to improve our program. All this knowledge will help me to develop teaching process and to incorporate this role into Emergency Department.

I had an incredible experience in Cincinnati. Our teachers and coordinators, dr. Herbert Loyd and dr. Kurt Knockel, planned our visit to the last detail including plenty of knowledge, practice and rest. I felt like a child being taken care by these incredible parents. Their lessons and experience allowed me see everything in a different way. No book could provide us with that. And I must mention dr. Stewart Wright - he is the person who made affiliation agreement with UC happen. This affiliation agreement allows our residents to spend one part of our program with the legendary emergency medicine community and observe processes in Emergency Department of University Hospital.

I return to Lithuania with a new energy and experience. I know that time is necessary for all changes, but they are inevitable. And I am glad to participate in those changes."

Photos: Courtesy of Ieva Paliokaite and Andrius Cernauskas

Photo above: Residents from Lithuania at the QESI office that provides TriHealth hospitals with the specialists (emegency medicine physicians and advanced practice clinicians, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

A. Cernauskas at the helicopter landing pad on the hospital's roof

I. Paliokaite during the tour in UC Air Care Helicopter

Presenting special projects, news and changes in Lithuania after last residents' visit to UC Golbal Health team and colleagues at dr. Stewart Wright's home

A. Cernauskas during his residency in Cincinnati

« Back