34
Sean A McKay, MD
Chief, Pulmonary
CDR
|
MC
|
USN
WRB
The Pulmonary Service is dedicated to
providing outstanding care to active duty,
dependents and retired patients in the NCR.
Our medical training programs are designed to
ensure that future DoD physicians receive the
academic, medical and professional guidance
they need to excel as officers and clinicians.
We also conduct cutting-edge research to
optimize the way care is delivered to our
warriors, veterans and dependents. We are
committed to improving access to care and to
integrating services across the region so
patients have an incredible experience at
every visit and achieve the best outcomes
from their treatment.
The Service is comprised of more than 100
civilian and active-duty health professionals
working in five divisions—the Pulmonary
Clinic, Seep Disorder Center, Interventional
Pulmonary, Respiratory Therapy and the
Pulmonary Function Testing lab—and in the
Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU). We also
have three fellowship programs, one in
pulmonary and critical care medicine (PCCM),
one in critical care medicine (CCM) and a third
in sleep medicine (SM). The PCCM fellowship
is three years long, with 4-5 fellows in each
program trained per year (12-15 total). The
CCM fellowship is two years long and has 1-2
fellows per year; the SM fellowship is one year
long and has 2-3 fellows per year.
The GME program has three sections: Dr. John
Sherner serves as the program director for the
PCCM fellowship, Dr. Jeffery Mikita is the
program director for the CCM fellowship, and
Dr. Jacob Collen directs the SM fellowship.
The Pulmonary Clinic
T
he Pulmonary Clinic (PC) sees referrals from
across
the
region.
We
offer
four
multidisciplinary specialty clinics: lung cancer,
sarcoidosis, asthma and cystic fibrosis (CF).
These clinics are run in collaboration with the
Murtha Cancer Center, experts from NIH, and
specialists in pediatric pulmonology, thoracic
radiology and asthma/immunology.
The PC instituted the first lung cancer
screening program in the DoD, serving as a
model for other programs in the NCR. The
clinic is also conducting ongoing research trials
in asthma, sarcoidosis and lung cancer.
Interventional Pulmonary
Dr. Robert Browning, the DoD’s first and most
experienced IP pulmonologist, continues to
run our IP program. This year our IP program
expanded to include a second IP physician,
making Walter Reed Bethesda the largest
Interventional Pulmonary program in the DoD.
The operating room we use for procedures is
located in the clinic itself and has full
anesthesia capabilities, fluoroscopy, and
minimally-invasive
endomicroscopy
technology that generates optical biopsies.
Physicians here perform state-of-the-art
interventional
procedures
that
include
cryotherapy, laser electro-cautery, stenting,
full mediastinal staging with endobronchial
ultrasound (EBUS), placing indwelling pleural
catheters, and performing pleuroscopy. Our IP
division is part of a multi-institutional trial
looking at early biomarkers for lung cancer
screening obtained via bronchoscopy.
Pu
lmonar
y
Lisa K Moores, MD
Director, Pulmonary
COL
|
MC
|
USA
USU
35
Respiratory Therapy
The RT division provides respiratory clinical
care across 17 patient care areas. Our
therapists are trained in over 15 critical care
devices and four ventilator platforms and are
part of the neonatal transport team, a
specialized group of neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU) caregivers trained to respond to
local hospitals that need to transport critically
ill infants to our facility. RT also performs
arterial blood gas analysis.
Specialized care provided by the RT clinic also
includes the use of inhaled nitric oxide (INO),
high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFJV)
and the ability to perform bedside diagnostic
and therapeutic bronchoscopies.
The Sleep Disorder Center
Our Sleep Disorder Center (SDC) houses a
fully-equipped, 12 bed sleep laboratory, the
largest in the DoD. We also have ten portable
(home) PSG units. On average, we provide
continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to
150 patients per month.
In addition to the standard sleep lab
measurement tools, we also offer calibrated
respiratory
inductance
plethysmography
(cRIP) and transcutaneous (TcCO2) and end-
tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) monitoring.
The SDC is also home to several prospective
research trials, including SENSAWAKE (that
investigates the performance of a novel CPAP
device in soldiers with PTSD) and OCBT-I (an
online,
primary
care-based
cognitive-
behavioral treatment for insomnia).
The Sleep Division is active in academics and
research. Each year three fellows are trained,
and part of their program is participation in
research. In 2016, the sleep medicine staff
and fellows were responsible for 15
manuscripts, 14 abstracts/posters and 17
lectures.
Medical Intensive Care Unit
The MICU, directed by Dr. Paul Clark, is a
closed 12 bed unit, equipped with state-of-
the-art equipment for managing all medical
emergencies. Our critical care nursing staff is
a group of highly-skilled and motivated
nurses that delivers the best possible bedside
care to our patients.
The mission of the MICU is to provide
comprehensive, safe and patient-centered
care to critically ill patients suffering from life-
threatening illnesses such as pneumonia,
Acute
Respiratory
Distress
Syndrome,
gastrointestinal
bleeding,
acute
kidney
failure, oncologic emergences and shock. Our
critical care team is comprised of specialists
in critical care medicine and pulmonary
disease and complemented by strong support
from respiratory therapists, pharmacists,
nutritionists, physical and occupational
therapists, and social workers, who round
daily with the MICU team.
Recent
process
improvements
include
updating and implementing a sepsis protocol,
which focuses on early identification and
management and is based on the latest
guidelines. This process improvement was in
collaboration with Emergency Medicine.
Pulmonary Function
Testing is commonly
performed to assist in the
diagnosis, staging and
prognosis of lung disease.
Pre- and post-deployment
lung function testing aids
in the evaluation of
medical readiness for our
active duty Service
members.
Opposite page:
Advances in
bronchoscopic
techniques, both
diagnostic and
therapeutic, have
significantly enhanced
patient care. Here, Dr.
Robert Browning, Chief of
Interventional Pulmonary
Medicine, teaches in the
bronchoscopy suite.