Keith Wrenn, M.D., who for 25 years has been a leader in Vanderbilt’s Department of Emergency Medicine serving as its first and only residency director, is stepping down.

Fewer uninsured patients are walking through the doors of Emergency Departments in states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), even though the total number of visits has increased since 2014, according to an Annals of Emergency Medicine study released Monday.

Vanderbilt LifeFlight has developed a new app that allows for emergency responders to request a helicopter at the tap of a button. The app also uses computer-aided software to send the emergency responders’ location and other helpful information directly to dispatch personnel at LifeFlight’s Communications Center.

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Committee on Trauma has verified Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt as a Level I pediatric trauma center, recognizing the hospital’s commitment to provide the highest level of care for injured pediatric patients.

Last May, Ian Jones, M.D., associate professor of Emergency Medicine and executive medical director of Emergency Services at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, stopped in his tracks when news reports flashed about lava overflowing the crater lake at the summit of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii.

Many doctors and nurses recall their first patient interaction — a rite of passage that occurs during medical or nursing school training. Now an innovative program is pushing the patient encounter for a few Vanderbilt University students into the undergraduate years.