Faculty Spotlight: Dawn Brezina, MD

Dawn BrezinaThis week’s faculty spotlight shines on hospitalist Dawn Brezina, MD. Brezina talks to us about chairing the recent annual meeting of the American College of Physicians’ North Carolina Chapter, changes in hospital medicine at Duke over the past decade, and exploring the Smoky Mountains and Yellowstone National Park.

How long have you been at Duke? How long have you been at the Division?
I have been working for Duke twelve years. Initially, I worked at all three hospitals and some of the outpatient clinics, but ten years ago I started working only for hospital medicine. I have been almost exclusively at DRH.

What are your responsibilities within the Division? What does a typical day for you look like?
Most of my time is spent in the DRH Hospital Medicine peri-operative medicine clinic. We have a busy schedule evaluating high-risk patients who are planning a surgical procedure by appointment,. Our goal is to optimize these patients so that they may safely proceed with surgery. We often start our day at 5:45 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. seeing patients upstairs in the ACU the morning before surgery.

You co-chaired the recent NC-ACP meeting with Sharon Rubin, MD. Can you tell me more about your involvement in that project? What did you learn from the experience?
The ACP is a great organization for internists. I wanted to build a program this year that would highlight both hospital medicine and outpatient medicine. We structured the meeting using a template that had been implemented at the national ACP meeting. We ran two rooms concurrently and I moderated the hospital medicine room and Dr. Rubin moderated the outpatient medicine room. There was a lot of energy and it was well received.

Overall, it was fun, and I learned a lot about trying to build a program. There are a lot of moving parts.

Will you be participating in next year’s meeting? Are you participating in any other internal medicine conferences or meetings this year?
The “ownership” of the NC ACP meeting rotates between the four medical schools, so Duke will not have the program again until 2019. I usually participate in minor roles at every meeting.

I am excited to be on the 2016 annual meeting committee of the Society of Peri-operative Assessment and Quality Initiatives (SPAQI), which presents a national meeting on Perioperative Evaluation and Management.

What’s the biggest change you’ve noticed in hospital medicine since you started at Duke? What changes do you see coming over the next decade?
When I started in hospital medicine at Duke, the programs were relatively new and less developed. Since then, most of our practices have become standardized and highly structured. Not only in medical management, but also in documentation and transfer of information. The computerization has made most of this change possible.

I think Duke medicine will continue to seek high-quality, standardized care at every level.

Have you recently read any books, articles, blog posts, or other material that would be of interest to the division?
My most recent book was Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal. This is an informative read. Highly recommended.

What passions or hobbies do you have outside of the division?
I love hiking and cycling. I cycle about 16-20 miles most weekends (weather permitting) with friends. Last summer we hiked up Mount LeConte in the Smoky Mountains and in September we visited Yellowstone and logged many miles of hiking there, also. I also garden and enjoy cooking.

Dawn Brezina, MD, explored the wilderness of Yellowstone National Park last September.

Dawn Brezina, MD, explored the wilderness of Yellowstone National Park last September.