Eric W. Dickson, M.D., former director of emergency medicine research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, envisions a world-class program in emergency medicine at The University of Iowa.

That's why Dickson resigned his Massachusetts post to accept two new appointments at UI effective Oct. 1, 2003: director of the Program in Emergency Medicine in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and director of the Emergency Treatment Center at UI Hospitals and Clinics.

Dickson said he looks forward to working with his Iowa colleagues in enhancing the program, and outlined two new clinical initiatives to improve specific areas of emergency care at UI Hospitals and Clinics. A chest pain center will allow physicians to monitor patients at risk of a heart attack, and a pediatric center staffed with a physician specializing in pediatric emergency care will treat children.

In addition, the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, has approved expansion and renovation of the Emergency Treatment Center at UI Hospitals and Clinics.

Dickson praised UI's success in becoming the primary training site for Iowa's first Emergency Medicine residency program. The training program is being launched in partnership with St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, which treats over 52,000 emergency cases annually. The Emergency Treatment Center and the Trauma Center at UI Hospitals and Clinics serves more than 30,000 patients a year.

About Eric Dickson

• Former Army combat medic
• Trained respiratory therapist
• B.A. from Merrimack College
• M.D. from University of Massachusetts Medical School
• Society of Academic Emergency Medicine Young Investigator Award winner