We are proud to announce the 2019 winner of the SEMPA/Rosh Review One Step Further Award as Brandon Carius, PA-C, of Brooke Army Medical Center.
The One Step Further award is given to an EMPA who exemplifies the ideals of continuous learning and self-improvement, and who takes it upon themselves to go “one step further” to improve a weakness or accelerate a strength.
In his application, Brandon wrote, “The ongoing evolution of physician assistants (PAs) demonstrates a growth from grassroots foundations to mainstream medicine, driven by those seeking greater proficiency and understanding in patient care. Emergency medicine PAs (EMPA) and military PAs exemplify this progression, but remaining gaps in clinical practice, academia, and professional development require even greater leadership to advance the profession. My efforts in these areas strive to combine the military and EMPA professions and push both forward simultaneously.”
Brandon developed clinic triage protocols at his unit at Fort Riley, Kansas, to enable combat medics to better manage initial patient assessments, including ordering initial imaging and laboratory tests.
He found a renewed focus on his own medical acumen and procedural skills when he was selected to the intensive 18-month EMPA residency program at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He worked diligently to improve his clinical skills while simultaneously seeking research opportunities. His original protocol used for his doctoral dissertation addresses a gap in military regulations for Soldiers immediately following fresh whole blood donation. He says “the opportunities at BAMC were phenomenal, both from my interactions with the tremendous physician residents and the supportive staff. They really pushed me clinically and academically to improve myself.”
He quickly recognized the research opportunities at BAMC and increased his protocol submissions from the one required to ten novel studies in a twelve-month period, investigating new commercial tourniquets, medical simulators, medical evacuation demographics, and an investigation of the concept of “historical alternans.” He published more than a dozen articles in 2019, including reports in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, the Journal of Emergency Medicine, and two unique manuscripts in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery.
Brandon received $1,000 as the award for his excellent work.
