Uthealthhoustonem

⚽🏥 UTH-EM at FIFA World Cup Houston 🌍🔥

Our team is proud to provide comprehensive medical coverage at FIFA World Cup matches at NRG Stadium, supporting athletes, staff, and fans across every level of care.

Our coverage includes:
🏟️ Field of play (sidelines)
🏥 Player medical center
⭐ VIP clinic
🚑 Spectator medical services (indoor & outdoor)

Our field team plays a critical role on the pitch, delivering rapid, expert care during international competition at the highest level of sport.

👏 Faculty serving in this role include:

- Carrie Bakunas
- Sam Luber
- Jessica Wilson
- Hashim Zaidi
- Kevin Schulz
- Joe Gill
- Toby Thomas

Special recognition to Dr. Carrie Bakunas for participating in a landmark FIFA moment during Germany 🇩🇪 vs Curaçao 🇨🇼, featuring the first all-female on-field medical team in FIFA World Cup history!

This milestone reflects leadership, representation, and continued excellence in global sports medicine. 💪⚕️

We are honored to continue supporting upcoming Houston matches!

🧠⚕️ STEM in action! 🚑❤️

We were excited to welcome students participating in the CEF in STEM "You Be The Soultion Nat'l Challenge to UTHealth Houston for a hands-on EM training experience! 🌟

These bright young minds spent the day learning lifesaving skills, including:

❤️ High-quality CPR
⚡ Proper AED use
🩸 Tourniquet application
🦴 Lower extremity splinting

Using realistic, life-size simulation manikins, students had the opportunity to practice real-world emergency response techniques while working alongside our team. 👏

A special thank you to our incredible Simulation Team for creating such an engaging and interactive experience. Your dedication helped make this event both educational and memorable for everyone involved! 🙌

The future of STEM [and healthcare] is bright! 🌟

A great week at in ATL! ✈️🍑

The annual meeting brings together EM professionals from across the country to share research, educational innovation, & ideas shaping the future of EM 🚑📚

Our team was proud to represent🤘throughout the conference by supporting faculty & resident presentations 🎤, participating in recruitment efforts🪧 🤝, and engaging with the many outstanding sesh's shared by colleagues across our beloved EM community.

It was a valuable, fun week filled with learning & reconnecting with friends + peers from across the country. See ya'll next year in Frisco! 🌉

🎹 Always a grand time hearing Tim back on the keys again! ✨

Our dept loved coming out to support alumni resident Dr. Timothy George & Team during their "Timothy & Winds" recital as part of the Crain Garden Performance Series at Houston Methodist. 🎶🎻🎼

From beautiful performances to spending time with colleagues and friends, it was a great reminder that we’ll always show up to support our alumni... especially when they’re hitting all the right notes. 😉🎵

Huge thanks to everyone who attended and helped make the afternoon so special. Until next year! 👏✨

Little Heroes, Lifesaving Skills! 🦸‍♀️❤️ 🦸‍♂️❤️

Our team had an amazing time at Hick’s Elementary teaching students lifesaving skills every kid should know ❤️👏

From learning what it’s like to work in the ER 🚑 to practicing CPR compressions on manneikins 💓, these students stepped up BIG TIME and showed they’re never too young to make a difference.

We covered:
✨ What Emergency Medicine doctors & PAs do
✨ How STEM connects to healthcare 🔬💻📐
✨ How to recognize an emergency 🚨
✨ Calling 911 & getting help 📞
✨ Checking for breathing 👀
✨ Hands-only CPR using the “Baby Shark” beat 🦈🎶
✨ Choking rescue basics 🙌

The best part? Watching every student confidently jump in to practice being a real-life hero 💪❤️

Huge thank you to the Hicks Elementary and their students for having us! And special thanks to Dr. Bhandari & Sadiya Bhandari, Drs. Meena Awasthi & Julia Guo, EM Residents: Tiffany Shields, Amara Ogoke, & Hannah Mainor for leading the way! The future is bright 🌟

Big shoutout to Emily Samp, PA-C for representing UTH-EM at the 2026 Conference in The Big Easy! ⚜️🎷🩺

Emily recently presented a lecture focused on ectopic pregnancy recognition, diagnosis, and the UT OB MSE process for rapid triaging of early trimester pregnant patients in the Emergency Department 🚨🤰📚

While at the conference, she also served as faculty for the iScan26 POCUS competition hosted by SPOCUS (Society of Point of Care Ultrasound) 🔍📡 With 44 PA student teams competing, Emily helped facilitate a patient case station where students used Lung, DVT, and Cardiac ultrasound skills to work through real-time clinical scenarios 🫀🫁👏

And because it’s New Orleans… apparently Mardi Gras-themed ultrasound education is a thing now 💜💛💚🎭📿

Awesome to see our faculty continuing to teach, mentor, and share their expertise on the national stage while helping train the next generation of clinicians 🔥

This past Sunday, our team was on the field for the Gamblers vs Orlando Storm game 🏈⚡️

We provided sideline coverage to support athlete safety and respond to injuries/emergencies as needed 🚑🏟️

This week’s resident on coverage was PGY1 Chandni Aghera, who has interests in sports medicine and ultrasound, so you’ll likely see her back out on the field in future events! 🩺📡👏

On to the next one 🔜🔥

Last month, Dr. Shabana Walia was 1 of only 3 U.S. presenters invited to speak at the 1st Italian Emergency Medicine Major Trauma International Congress (I.E.M.I.G.) held in Prato, Italy 🏛️ 🍝

Representing UTHealth Houston Emergency Medicine on the international stage 🔥, Dr. Walia presented on “Mass Casualty Preparedness & Response” alongside an outstanding faculty of Italian emergency medicine and trauma specialists 🩺🚨

From trauma systems and disaster preparedness to global collaboration + education, this was such an awesome opportunity to connect, share ideas, and showcase the incredible work being done by our program 💥🌎👏 Really cool to see Dr. Walia representing us on the int'l stage and connecting with EM colleagues from around the world! ✈️🏥⚡

🚑 MSTU Recap!

We’ve been busy these past few months… from training students in Spring Branch ISD 🎒📚 to providing seniors with CPR and other quick life‑saving skills ❤️‍🩹🙌, working with EMS professionals at the Fort Bend County EMS Symposium 🚨🩺, and collaborating with teams in Cy‑Fair, Colorado County, Sugar Land, and more 🌟.

Our team has been out supporting CE programs, community outreach, and SIM competitions across the region 💪🏽🔥.

More events coming soon, and our full flyer drops next week! 📢✨ If your agency is interested in simulation or training support, contact us for more information. 📬🤝

Our program had a strong showing at this year’s 2026 Texas College of Emergency Physicians (TCEP) CONNECT Conference in Rockwall, TX! 👏✨

A big congratulations to incoming Chief Resident, Abbey Berka, DO, who was elected as the Resident Representative to the TCEP Board of Directors. Abbey will also serve as one of our Chief Residents during her final year of residency training. 🎓👏

We’d also like to recognize Chief Resident, Cait Minutella, MD, for receiving the Michael Wainscott Legacy Award 🏆, and Ryan Johnson, MD, for his service as the outgoing Resident Representative to the TCEP Board. 👏

Our residents and faculty were also heavily involved throughout the conference, with poster presentations from Briana Williams, MD, and Serena Meng, MD, and Ryan 📊, while Drs. Katy Larimore, Dorian Alexander, Jessica Wilson, Brandon O'Keefe, Carolyn Gardiner, and Chief Resident Ryan Johnson contributed through conference speaking sessions, ultrasound education, and hands-on teaching for learners exploring point-of-care ultrasound. 🩺📚

Proud to see our team continuing to represent UTH-EM through leadership, education, mentorship, & innovation across Texas EM. 🤘✨

Conference photos courtesy of /