Health
Physician Assistant receives award
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Sep 29, 2008 - 2:12 PM

Bradford Ledzian, PAC, MHS, of Norwalk, right, surgical physician assistant at Norwalk Hospital, is congratulated by Dr. Peter Dodds, chairman of the Norwalk Hospital Department of Surgery, for being a recipient of the Norwalk Hospital President's Award. He was honored for his leadership efforts in advancing continuing medical education for health professionals.

Bradford Ledzian, PAC, MHS, of Norwalk, a Surgical Physician Assistant at Norwalk Hospital, was nominated by Dr. Peter Dodds, Chairman of Surgery at Norwalk Hospital, to receive a distinguished recognition award, the Norwalk Hospital President's Award, for his leadership and initiatives in promoting continuing medical education.

Mr. Ledzian has received the Norwalk Hospital President's Award specifically for his efforts in establishing the standardized national course, "Fundamental Critical Care Support" at Norwalk Hospital. This enables physicians and health care providers to receive continuing education in the basic principles of critical care through a course sponsored by The Society of Critical Care Medicine.

After completing this course himself and becoming certified in "Fundamental Critical Care Support," Mr. Ledzian went on to become certified as an instructor and director. In these roles, he has conducted the class three times at Norwalk Hospital for physicians and health professionals. The course prepares the non-intensivist health care providers for the first 24 hours of management of the critically ill patient as well as teaches them how to deal with the sudden deterioration of the critically ill patient.

According to Mr. Ledzian, "The Leapfrog Group contends, based on research, that if the first three leaps (Computerized Physician Order Entry, Intensive Care Unit Physician Staffing and Evidenced-Based Hospital Referral, all of which are happening at Norwalk Hospital) were implemented in all urban hospitals in the U.S., we could save up to 65,341 lives, prevent as many as 907,600 serious medication errors each year and save $41.5 billion. Having "Fundamental Critical Care Support" certified non-physician providers (after successfully completing the course) available for patients within five minutes when an intensivist is not immediately available is part of the 'Intensive Care Unit Staffing' leap.

"Brad's leadership efforts in continuing medical education help us immensely at Norwalk Hospital in our objective of providing outstanding and high quality care to our patients," Dr. Dodds said.

Mr. Ledzian has also recently become the only Physician Assistant in the country to be certified in "Fundamental Laparoscopic Skills," a newly developed course by The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and The American College of Surgeons. The FLS program has recently been made a part of over 250 MD surgical residency programs in the United States and Canada, reaching thousands of surgeons-in-training. Now, Mr. Ledzian is incorporating this skills training into the Norwalk Hospital/Yale University Surgical Physician Assistant Residency Curriculum.

Mr. Ledzian has been on the Norwalk Hospital Surgical Physician Assistant Staff since 2002. After earning a Bachelor's of Arts Degree from Rutgers University in Biological Sciences, he completed the Physician Assistant Program, earning a Bachelor's of Science Degree, cum laude, at MCP Hahnemann University School of Health Professions. After completing the Norwalk Hospital/Yale University Post-Graduate Surgical Physician Assistant Residency Program, he pursued Advanced Physician Assistant Training at Drexel/MCP Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, PA, where he was awarded a Master's Degree with a focus in Surgical Critical Care.

In addition to his certifications in Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery and Fundamentals of Critical Care Support, Mr. Ledzian maintains certification as a Health Care Provider in Basic Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support. He also has an Experienced Provider Level certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support.

A clinical and didactic educator for the Norwalk Hospital/Yale University School of Medicine Surgical PA program, he was the recipient of the 2007 Scott Dareff Memorial Award for excellence in clinical instruction. He holds several other academic appointments and is a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Society of Critical Care Medicine and the American College of Surgeons.

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