Jessica H. Strauss, MD

I grew up in a family of many doctors. My dad is an emergency physician, and my mom is a psychiatrist. As a child and young adult, I tried to find other career paths, but was always drawn to science and medicine. In college I took an EMT course, solidifying my decision to pursue medicine. In medical school, I especially tried to discover fields that were new to me, but I gravitated toward the emergency department (ED). I loved the problem-solving nature of emergency medicine, the quick thinking required, the social interaction with patients, and the procedural component.

As an emergency medicine physician, I treat any emergent or urgent condition that would cause an adult or child to seek care in an ED. On what might be the worst day of someone’s life, I strive to deliver the best medical care while being compassionate and empathetic. I use evidence-based medicine to provide each patient the individualized care they deserve. I try to treat each patient as I would want one of my family members or friends to be treated. At the same time, along with an outstanding team, I can think and act quickly, and perform complicated emergency procedures to save someone’s life. We often don’t have the luxury of time in the ED, but I do my best to make each patient feel valued and thoroughly cared for.

I have a special interest in medical simulation and completed a simulation fellowship. I have expertise in conducting debriefing of medical teams and events. In simulation, we use high- and low-fidelity mannequins for education, procedural skills, and team building. What that means is we have technologically advanced mannequins that can breathe, speak, and act like a real patient to simulate a wide variety of emergency scenarios. We create cases or scenarios, and students, residents, nurses, and faculty work together to take care of the simulated patient. We conduct simulations in a dedicated simulation center and in the patient care environment where we bring the mannequins to the ED. We constantly solicit feedback with the ultimate goal to improve our teamwork and medical care to continually improve our care of real patients.

Simulation is a wonderful tool for teaching, detecting safety threats, and testing systems. We have dedicated time to teach medical students, emergency medicine residents, physician assistants and nurse practitioners, nurses, and emergency medicine faculty. My particular interests lie in quality and patient safety and using simulation in innovative ways. Simulation compliments my career in emergency medicine well and makes me a better doctor.