Paul Phrampus, M.D., is the director of the Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation, Education and Research (WISER) in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He also holds the rank of assistant professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Anesthesiology.
WISER is the pre-eminent hospital and academic medical-center-based human simulation center in the nation. In 2006, WISER conducted more than 11,000 training sessions with physicians, fellows, residents, medical students, nursing students, nurses, emergency medical personnel and many other health care professionals to handle situations that they encounter in real life situations.
Dr. Phrampus is deeply active in patient safety efforts in airway management and led a team to create an airway algorithm and an accompanying difficult airway management simulation course specific to the practice of emergency medicine. This course has been completed by the entire faculty as well as residents in the Department of Emergency Medicine of UPMC Presbyterian Hospital and will soon be deployed across the emergency departments of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's 19 hospital system.
Dr. Phrampus has an extensive background in emergency medical services (EMS) and serves as an active EMS medical director. He has deployed simulation technology for both testing as well as competency assessment measures in EMS services in Southwestern Pennsylvania. He co-authored a simulation course for flight crew training for Stat Medevac, which operates 16 helicopters, multiple fixed wing aircraft and employs about 200 crew members.
He has been active in education for many years and was recently awarded the faculty excellence award by the University of Pittsburgh emergency medicine residency program. He is a frequent lecturer on various topics in medicine. His interests in education include the implementation of technology into the world of education to increase the efficiency of learning and developing models of cognitive decision-making assessments. He has many years of experience with computer system and electronics gained from his years of service in the United States Navy.
Dr. Phrampus received his undergraduate degree in biology from Old Dominion University and his medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va. He is a board certified emergency physician who completed residency training at Pittsburgh.
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