Brian Browne, M.D.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 9, 2006
Contact: Bill Seiler bseiler@umm.edu
Ellen Beth Levitt eblevitt@umm.edu 410-328-8919

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE CREATES NEW DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Long-time head of emergency medicine appointed acting chair of new department

Brian Browne, M.D.

The University of Maryland School of Medicine has elevated its Division of Emergency Medicine to full departmental status. This new academic Department of Emergency Medicine will enhance educational programs at the school and the clinical practice of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Emergency medicine has been a division of the Department of Surgery since 1985. Advancement to a separate department acknowledges the emergency medicine faculty’s unique skills, which encompass emergency care, clinical toxicology, pre-hospital care and emergency medical services, disaster preparedness and response, and cardiopulmonary and brain resuscitation.

Brian Browne, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., a professor of surgery who has headed the Division of Emergency Medicine since 1996, has been appointed acting chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Browne has led the expansion of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland for 22 years and shepherded the planning and development of the University of Maryland Medical Center’s state-of-the-art emergency facility for adults and children, which opened in 2002.

“The creation of a full-fledged department of emergency medicine is an historic change that we have worked hard to achieve,” says Dr. Browne. “The medical school recognizes all of the accomplishments of the Division of Emergency Medicine, including our high level of clinical expertise. Our new status allows us to be more involved in curriculum development and gives us the opportunity to develop new relationships with basic scientists as we move to expand our already large research program funded by federal and private grants.”

Over the years, the Division of Emergency Medicine has matured into a dynamic program with more than 75 board-certified physicians. It has one of the largest emergency medicine residency programs in the United States and is home to nationally recognized faculty who provide care at a number of facilities in Maryland.

“Granting departmental status to emergency medicine recognizes the accomplishments our emergency medicine faculty have achieved and will afford them greater autonomy in setting priorities for further program developments,” says Donald E. Wilson, M.D., M.A.C.P., Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland and Dean of the School of Medicine. “It recognizes the unique role emergency medicine plays in the broad spectrum of health care delivery, teaching and research.”

"For many patients, the emergency department is the front door to our medical center,” says Jeffrey A. Rivest, President and CEO of the University of Maryland Medical Center. “This new departmental status will strengthen our ability to attract and retain the most talented specialists in emergency medicine and help us provide the best possible emergency care to our patients,” Rivest adds.

The Department of Emergency Medicine is the 25th department at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the fifth oldest—and first public—medical school in the United States.

###

For patient inquiries, call 1-800-492-5538 or click here to make an appointment.

This page was last updated on: February 25, 2008.