Ellen Wilson, MD

surgery PGY2 @ BUMC Dallas | ex-Red Raider x 2 | passionate about slow fashion, sewing & NDLPT | she/her/y’all

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

@mdbtvh I started a short word doc how-to guide for our off service residents and they turned it into a longer version with lots of insightful tips. It’s been passed around and I think they find it pretty helpful. Maybe consider doing a short how-to guide!

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

had to fax a pre-authorization request last week and it took me way longer than it should’ve

[Mark Lewis, MD, FASCO @marklewismd]

I had a medical student shadowing me today so we spent a lot of valuable time reviewing how to use this piece of specialized equipment that is now almost unique to the healthcare industry

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

intern: hey why did you stop sumatriptan on that patient? were you concerned for serotonin syndrome?

me: I didn’t stop it but maybe it fell off. also, I’m flattered you think I remember what serotonin syndrome is

[Ron Hekier @ronhekier]

Yesterday I completed my once every four years refresher course of ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support System.)
I am one of over 1 million health care providers who have taken the course, a course borne of a tragic private plane crash almost 50 years ago.

ATLS is systematic approach to treating injured patients when they arrive in an emergency room, whether it’s a rural hospital in Haiti or a top trauma center in Houston. It has been taught in over 65 countries. It’s a common language, a universal protocol. A method to insure that severely injured patients get the same proper care wherever they are.

But care of the injured patient was not always systemized in a universal fashion. The origins of ATLS were born in Lincoln, Nebraska nearly 50 years ago.

In 1976, an orthopedic surgeon from Lincoln, Dr. James Styner, was piloting his small propeller plane carrying his wife and four children back from a wedding they attended in California. As they got closer to home on their long trek, the weather deteriorated over rural parts of Kansas.

With weather worsening and darkness approaching, Styner had to choose between turning around and flying away from home, landing in the middle of nowhere, or forging ahead. Styner pushed forward.

After flying over 1,000 miles and only 60 miles from home, tragedy struck. With decreased visibility due to clouds, fog, and darkness, James Styner become disoriented and crashed the plane. They flew through trees at around 160 miles per hours, shredding off both wings, and crashed into a corn field.

Styner survived the crash. His wife was ejected from the cockpit and died instantly when a piece of the propeller hit her head. His four children were in back of the plane and survived but three of them suffered head injuries and were unconscious. After waiting for help for hours in the desolate field, Styner decided he had to look for help. He left his oldest child behind to watch his three siblings, and walked in the direction of distantly appearing headlights from passing cars.

He eventually reached a nearby road, flagged down a car for help, and they returned to the field to retrieve his children.

Styner learned he had crashed near a small town called Hebron, Nebraska, a town he would soon learn which had a small hospital not well equipped to handle severely ill or injured patients. Only two doctors staffed the small hospital and they had little experience with severe trauma.

House after the crash and in the Emergency Room at Hebron with his 4 injured children, Styner was shocked at the care, or perhaps better said, lack of appropriate care given to his injured children.

Later he would say: “When I can provide better care in the field with limited resources than what my children and I received at the primary care facility, there is something wrong with the system, and the system has to be changed.”

He demanded the he and his children be transferred out of that hospital to the the large hospital at which he practiced, 60 miles away in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Over the course of time, Styner and his children had complete physical recoveries, but he remained troubled by his experience at the small hospital. Dr. Styner would vocally complain about the small town hospital.

One of his medical colleagues, an ER doc, grew tired of his complaining and told him to change the system. Well in this case there was no system. As Styner said: “You have to train them before you can blame them.”
So Styner together with the help of colleagues created a protocol for the treatment of severely injured patients with the goal of teaching it to health care providers in rural settings. Their system was called ATLS, and first debuted in Nebraska in 1978.
Their little course was picked up the University of Nebraska, and eventually the American College of Surgeons, and by global institutions.
Since it’s humble beginnings in a class in a small town in Nebraska, it was been taught in thousands of classes in over 60 countries to over 1 million providers.

From a personal tragedy to a global protocol which has saved countless lives over decades, James Styner proved several things.

• One person can change the world.
• Humble beginnings don’t reduce the chance of massive succes.
• The solution to complex problems is often to have a systemized protocol in place.
• You have to train them before you can blame them.

#ship30for30

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

Last night I consented Hunter for an above-knee-amputation in my sleep LMAO.

It’s only week 1 of Vascular.

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

my fav chief left me her le labo toiletries and her meal card with $$$ on it 🥹

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

before y’all get your panties in a twist like y’all did on my post this past winter…

at my program we call PGY2/3 “midlevels” and PGY4/5 “chiefs”

we use the term APP or advanced practice provider to refer to our NPs and PAs.

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

today I asked my co-intern who her mid level resident was going to be for the next block and she was like “Ellen WE are going to be the mid-levels” and I was like “oh shoot yeah you’re right”

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

loupes are heaaaaaa!!! just in time for vascular next block 🤓

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

I just finished my last trauma call as an intern!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

@ASGonugunta Good luck!!!!!

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

saying “go on, git” every time I discharge a patient

[Bleacher Report @BleacherReport]

Giannis didn’t like this reporter's question on if he thinks this season was a failure. https://t.co/M3hJ9Bo4GJ

[Sanjee Baksh @S__Baksh]

Ratatouille but it’s about a rat controlling a surgery intern under their scrub cap

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

@Nikita_Chapaga Nikita!!! I’m so happy to hear that this field brought you joy. If you ever want to talk about it, please just text me!

Like you, I also entered med school thinking “definitely not surgery” but I was sold after my first trauma ex lap 😂

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

my brain does a screen shot every time I have to calculate ABIs

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

@pmackkkk me!!!!!!! dm’s are open if you wanna chat.

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

@galactic_baby this was at Genesis Benefit Thrift Store in Dallas! my fav, I come here all the time.

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

post call thrift store run yesterday—not me finding these babaton and Wilfred pants 🥹 one for me, one for my sister

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

@ihatemedschool_ Ahahahha I am also taking ABSITE. Gonna be a doozy of a day lol

[Ellen Wilson, MD @EllenSWilson]

@ihatemedschool_ hehe I am going to dinner with hunter and his family the night before. I’m on call for my birthday 🫠

let me know how long you are in town for, would love to see you soon!!