Sabina honored by TeamHealth

Dr. Bill Sabina, medical director of the department of emergency medicine and president of medical staff at South County Health, was recently named Emergency Medicine Medical Director of the Year by TeamHealth.

What influenced you to go into the health care field?

I studied and graduated from college as a biomedical engineer. My original plan was to get my Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. In order to make ends meet during my junior and senior years, I took a research job at the local medical school. During my downtime, I began to sit in the back of the first-year medical school classes, and became interested in a more profound way about medicine.

What are some of the unique challenges associated with emergency medical care?

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The hardest, and to some of us in emergency medicine the most rewarding part of our job, is the fact that you never know what is going to come through those doors at any given moment. Some call it the “adrenaline junkie” which calls to us. But for me it is about the myriad number of people and ailments and diagnosis that I get to see. I know I would never have been as fulfilled if I saw the same medical problems day in and day out, with all due respect to my medical colleagues. Recently, however, it has become increasingly frustrating to apply all of the new regulations and protocols, and electronic medical records, which take us away from the patients’ bedside and direct patient care. Part of the art of medicine is getting to know the patients and especially talking through their symptoms and concerns in order to hone in on their possible diagnosis.

What is most rewarding about your role as medical staff director?

The most rewarding aspect is that I get to not only interact and continue to see patients and provide medical care myself, but also that I lead a group of highly trained and capable physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants and in small ways, get to help them do their jobs better. This ultimately, I hope, makes their jobs easier and in turn, makes them better, more-efficient clinicians, thereby providing the best possible care for our patients. •

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