Congratulations to Dr. Kelly Quinley for winning one of the first annual Right Fit HIPster Awards.

Dr. Quinley received her medical degree from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and is a current Chief Resident at Highland Hospital, Alameda Health System.  She is being recognized for her work developing an emergency physician training program focused on the management and counseling of patients presenting with first trimester miscarriage, including the use of manual uterine aspiration.

Dr. Quinley believes that we, as emergency physicians, can better care for a patient suffering a miscarriage in the emergency department.  She was inspired by the idea that emergency physicians could improve patient care and our ability to properly stabilize these patients, our understanding of miscarriage, and our counseling of women and families at a time when they may need additional emotional support.

She new that manual uterine aspiration (MUA) can be used to treat refractory uterine hemorrhage and is a safe, simple procedure that could be taught to emergency medicine physicians, just as it is taught to nurses, physician assistants and physicians in many OBGYN programs.  She felt this was a valuable skill for the emergency physician who may practice in hospitals without 24 hour in-house OBGYN coverage or in resource scarce environments.

Partnering with the Highland Hospital OBGYN department and the TEAMM training group from University of Washington, Dr. Quinley developed a teaching curriculum for Highland emergency doctors and nurses focusing on the epidemiology, treatment options and counseling of women presenting to the emergency room with first trimester miscarriage. A two-part workshop, with didactic and hands-on skills labs, taught providers how to perform manual uterine aspiration for the treatment of refractory uterine hemorrhage.  Dr. Quinley is in the process of publishing on her work to share this education strategy with the broader emergency medicine community.

Dr. Quinley has been described as a superstar.  She has impressed the faculty at Highland Hospital with her passion and dedication for improving patient care.

See an interview with Dr. Quinley’s here. Congrats to this amazing FemInEM!