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Trauma/Surgical Critical Care

The Elvis Presley Trauma Center in the Regional Medical Center is home to the only Level I Trauma Center within 150 miles. It is one of the busiest trauma centers in the country, with a high volume of both penetrating and blunt trauma. 

We oversee a 22-bed dedicated trauma intensive care unit, an 18-bed general intensive care unit and a 28-bed trauma step-down unit.  In 2017, there were approximately 2,255 shock trauma activations with 3,800 trauma admissions including 900 admissions to an intensive care unit.  In addition, we offer three fellowship positions in Surgical Critical Care.  Our fellowship program has produced several national leaders in the field of trauma and surgical critical care.

Message from Interim Division Chief

Martin Croce, MD

A major addition to the system of care for the critically injured patient is the Elvis Presley Trauma Center, which opened in 1983. This center has become one of the highest-volume centers in the United States. Over 4,500 patients a year sustaining both blunt and penetrating injury are managed using the trauma team concept. Diagnostic, operative and intensive care with faculty supervision, combined with a multispecialty team approach, ensures both optimal patient care and excellent resident education. The center receives patients not only from the Memphis metropolitan area, but also by helicopter from North Mississippi, Eastern Arkansas, Southern Missouri and West Tennessee.

An elaborate communication system allows the senior surgeon to assist the paramedic in the prehospital phase of resuscitation anywhere in the Memphis area. The center operates independently of the adjacent emergency room and is staffed with surgeons, nurses and technicians solely dedicated to trauma. The trauma unit contains its own resuscitation area, imaging center, four dedicated operating rooms, a 22-bed trauma intensive care unit and a four-bed neurosurgery intensive care unit. All facilities are located on the same floor and within close proximity to ensure rapid diagnostic and therapeutic intervention with the least movement of the injured patient. The helipad elevator opens into the resuscitation area.

A broad-based clinical research program conducts clinical and laboratory investigations into the cardiopulmonary, metabolic and septic consequences of trauma and shock. Several scientific publications are generated annually from the projects.

The Residency Program in Trauma/Critical Care is fully accredited by the ACGME. Residents are selected from candidates who must be eligible for certification by the American Board of Surgery.

Surgical Critical Care Fellowship

Division Contact

Flavenia Leaper
Administrative Specialist
910 Madison Ave, Suite 220
Memphis, TN 38163
P: (901) 448-8140
fleaper@uthsc.edu

 

Faculty

Martin Croce, MD
Interim Division Chief
Professor

Tiffany Bee, MD
Associate Professor
 

Cory Evans, MD
Assistant Professor

Dina Filiberto, MD
Assistant Professor 

Peter Fischer, MD
Associate Professor

Louis Magnotti, MD
Professor 

George Maish, III, MD
Associate Professor

Gayle Minard, MD
Professor

John P. Sharpe, MD
Assistant Professor
Program Director, Trauma/Surgical Critical Care Fellowship 
 

Last Published: Feb 18, 2019