Course Descriptions

This course provides an overview of trauma care, spanning from originations of trauma care to its current global impact with introduction to the WHO Emergency Trauma and Acute Care Program.  Trauma is introduced as a preventable disease and this course delves deeply into the creation of trauma systems globally.  We will explore trauma systems spanning from one of the most advanced in the world at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center to trauma care in low resource settings without systematic care.  Trauma care is tailored to the community in which it serves, thus trauma care can look differently across the globe.  We will explore established trauma systems and trauma communities across all continents, so the learner can grasp the diversity yet similarity of trauma care globally.   This course will emphasize the leadership qualities needed within the field of trauma and describe trauma care as a multidisciplinary team sport – including nurses, pharmacists, social workers, physicians and emergency medical providers.  

This course is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary examination of how to care for the critically injured patient.  Taught by world experts in the field, this course will begin by evaluating an unstable patient in the prehospital setting to the trauma bay, including discussions surrounding resuscitative thoracotomies and REBOA (resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta).  We will discuss the history of blood resuscitation and the current best evidence-based practices, including the use of thromboelastography.  The evolving field of damage control resuscitation and resuscitation endpoints will be explored.  This course will have faculty from the field of trauma anesthesia who will discuss airway management in the unstable patient, medications for induction and sedation and hemodynamic monitoring.  Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) will be taught by experts in the field, the learner will gain an appreciation for the utilization of ultrasound techniques in the unstable patient.  The role of imaging and interventional radiology will be taught by trauma radiologists.  This course will also explore advanced resuscitation efforts such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and therapeutic hypothermia in trauma.   

This course provides in-depth knowledge on principles and strategies of clinical trauma care, organized anatomically.  This course will be taught by clinical experts discussing the initial management of specific injury patterns, operative techniques and most recent clinical evidence of both penetrating and blunt trauma.  This course will also discuss the clinical management of special trauma populations such as pediatrics, geriatrics and the pregnant woman.  Though this course will mostly be taught by Shock Trauma Center surgery faculty, this course also places special emphasis on the multi-disciplinary collaboration of trauma care, with some modules being taught by orthopedic surgeons, vascular surgeons, cardiothoracic surgeons, oral maxillofacial surgeons, neurosurgeons and anesthesiologists.  

Seeing trauma as a preventable illness, this course will delve deeply into injury prevention with special focus on violence prevention programs and road traffic injuries.  The details of how to maintain an efficient and effective trauma system will be discussed in this course, including verification systems, trauma registries, education and performance improvement.  This course will introduce military trauma systems and delve into disaster response systems and mass casualty events, then leading to discussions on humanitarian assistance globally.  This course will discuss end of life care within trauma victims, including palliative care, trauma survivorship and organ donation.  

This is a required course for all Masters in Trauma Sciences students.  Participants in this course will be introduced to scholarly writing and research methodologies.  The aim of this course is to provide a strong foundation for all students prior to developing their master's Thesis.   

To graduate from the Masters in Trauma Sciences, every student will put together a thesis.  Each student will be paired with a mentor from Shock Trauma Center and design their thesis.  The thesis will be geared towards a publication in a peer reviewed journal, so as to help advance further the student's career.  Both the "Intro to Thesis" and "Thesis" courses will give guidance on how to be successful, as well as making sure a student's thesis is aligned with their career goals.

This course provides in-depth knowledge on the operative principles of trauma care.  Modules will be taught by Shock Trauma faculty with operative expertise in trauma care.  The course will go over advanced surgical exposure of the abdomen, retroperitoneum, chest and vascular exposures.  In addition to didactics to go over anatomy and surgical exposure, this course will include operative videos during live cases.  This course will also include videos from cadaver lab, where operative exposure will be thoroughly explained while a student can watch the dissection and operative management.   

Trauma care has improved over the past 20 years, largely from improvements in trauma systems, assessments, triage, resuscitation and emergency care.  Key to this improvement is the growth of critical care for the injured patient.  Care of the polytrauma patient does not end in the operating room or the resuscitation bay.  The patient presenting to the intensive care unit following initial resuscitation and damage control surgery may be far from stable with ongoing hemorrhage, resuscitation needs and injuries still requiring definitive repair.  A trauma care provider should understand the totality of care in the intensive care unit, including respiratory, cardiovascular, metabolic and immunologic consequences of the injured patient.  This course will provide the foundation of critical care management for the injured patient. 

To augment lessons learned throughout the Masters in Trauma curriculum, a two-week clinical rotation can be created based on the student’s interests.  This clinical elective can be based in trauma care, surgical critical care, trauma anesthesia, emergency medical services, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), critical care resuscitation unit (CCRU) or emergency general surgery.  Given the vast backgrounds of the students, this clerkship can be tailored to a student’s level of training and expertise. 

This course provides an overview of the key principles of inclusive science communication and explores common approaches to communicate science to various audiences, with a particular focus on writing. Students will review principles of effective science communication, both through analyzing existing forms of science communication and through applying these principles in their own writing. Students will be composing several writing and communication assignments throughout the course on a topic of their choice. The goal is to practice science communication principles in their own writing, culminating in a small portfolio of their revised work produced in this class. Frequent instructor feedback will give students numerous opportunities to practice communication skills. 

This course will acquaint students with basic concepts in research ethics, will examine the ethical and philosophical issues raised by involving human subjects in research, review concepts of risks and benefits, vulnerability, privacy and confidentiality, undue inducement, exploitation, equipoise, and therapeutic misconception. By the end of the course, students will be able to analyze research protocols and assess the ethical appropriateness of such protocols. 

This course is designed to introduce the students to a broad range of methods commonly used in biomedical and public health research, and to provide some hands-on data analysis experience. Topics to be covered include the role of statistics in science, properties of distributions, exploratory data analysis, inference about means, proportions and survival distributions, and introduction to multivariable methods. 

The course provides an overview of the field of global health. It introduces students to the history, challenges, theories, and diverse perspectives that make up global health. The course overviews emerging global health priorities, policies, interventions, ethics and understanding the future of the field. In addition, particular attention is given to developing analytical tools to analyze global and local health phenomena, complementing them with a social justice-oriented lens. Learners will develop skills in analysis, leadership, teamwork and communication in a global context. 

Global surgery refers to the provision of surgical care on a worldwide scale, encompassing a broad range of surgical services such as emergency surgery, trauma care, obstetrical care, and essential surgical procedures.  Global surgery addresses the disparities in access to safe and timely surgical care that exist between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries. It aims to improve surgical infrastructure, increase the availability of surgical services, and enhance the overall quality of surgical care in resource-limited settings.  Surgery is an essential component of healthcare, and addressing surgical disparities is crucial for achieving global health equity. 

Global surgery is essential for addressing public health emergencies and providing timely responses to disasters. In times of crisis, the availability of surgical services becomes critical for saving lives, preventing disabilities, and restoring the health of affected populations. By strengthening surgical systems globally, countries can better prepare for and respond to emergencies, ultimately saving more lives and reducing the impact of disasters. 

In this course, we will delve deeply into the field of global surgery, as well as begin to understand the complexity and intricacies of providing surgical care in low resource settings.  We will explore this complex field by understanding that one’s access to healthcare and surgery may rely heavily on one’s political context and social situation.  We will utilize case studies to explore current complex humanitarian emergencies and different countries’ access to surgical care. 

This course explores key strategy, management, and leadership practices in global health programs and examines the essential components of best practice global health improvement programs. It is designed to train leaders in the application, testing, and refinement of current frameworks in health care delivery. This course will provide an in-depth review of leadership functions to equip students with the knowledge and skills to understand, organize, and manage complex global health delivery organizations. Students will study the theory and practice of health care delivery, various roles within the health system, and how global health delivery organizations function. Students will apply their learning in case-based situations and deploy procedures and processes to effectively improve health outcomes.