Garvin, Rachel E.

School of Medicine
Neurosurgery
(210) 567-5625
garvinr@uthscsa.edu

I am a Neurointensivist and an Associate Professor with the Departments of Neurosurgery, Emergency Medicine and Neurology at University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. My career in medicine actually started as a pediatric ICU nurse in Washington DC. After 5 years of nursing, I decided I wanted to acquire more knowledge and skills. I returned to school to complete pre-medical requirements while continuing to work as a nurse. I then attended medical school at the University of Maryland. During medical school, I was heavily involved in teaching. I was selected 2 years in a row to work with incoming medical students on a preparatory course for medical school studies and new early on that I had a love and knack for teaching. After graduating Summa Cum Laude and with the award for the Highest Average in Scholarship, I began my emergency medicine residency training at the University of Cincinnati. I continued teaching during residency, presenting lectures and creating an educational newsletter for the residents, published bi-monthly. During residency, I decided I wanted to further my training with a fellowship in neurocritical care. I always had enjoyed the challenge of caring for critically ill patients as a nurse. Neurocritical care required management of the complexities of the neurologically injured patient along with critical illness. This combination proved extremely challenging as well as rewarding. Following my residency in emergency medicine, I completed a neurocritical care fellowship at the University of Cincinnati. I am currently Board Certified in Emergency Medicine and Neurocritical Care.

Following my fellowship, I moved to San Antonio to work as a neurointensivist and clinician educator as well as continuing practice in emergency medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. As a neurointensivist, I work every third week in the neuroICU. For that week I am on call 24/7 for 7 days. I work with a team of residents, mid-level providers, pharmacists, respiratory therapist, nurses and social workers to care for neurologically and medically complex patients. Our unit provides care for patients with stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, neuromuscular disease and seizures. In addition, these patients often have multi-system issues requiring critical care. As an intensivist, I provide multi-system care for these patients as well as perform procedures when indicated such as endotracheal intubations, central venous access, bronchoscopy and chest tubes. Working in the neuroICU also requires a significant amount of time devoted to meeting with families and working on often ethically challenging cases. In addition to working as a neurointensivist, I work 2-3 shifts per month as an emergency physician. In the emergency department at University Hospital, San Antonio, I am responsible for overseeing care provided by residents physicians and mid-level providers as well as teaching a range of students. Care provided ranges from life saving resuscitations to urgent care needs. In the emergency department I am also responsible for overseeing and assisting with procedures such as endotracheal intubations, central venous access. arterial access, chest tubes, lumbar puncture and paracentesis. Both neurocrtical care and emergency medicine require an ability to work well under pressure, handle emergent situations, exceptional critical thinking skills and the ability to work seamlessly in a team environment.

In addition to patient care, I am a clinician educator and I focus on developing interactive and engaging teaching methods. I enjoy bedside teaching which I emphasize on clinical rotations for residents and students. When I am not working clinically, my time is spent on educational initiatives, teaching and administrative work. I am currently involved with several different departments for regular lecture and didactic teaching series. I am part of the third year neurology clerkship, providing instruction for students on rotation in the NeuroICU and providing a monthly didactic session on neurologic emergencies. I lecture regularly for emergency medicine, trauma, neurosurgery and medicine. I also have presented lectures for the nursing school and for our clinical nurses. I have been an invited speaker at local, regional and national platforms on topics related to neurocritical care. I am a mentor for medical students as they traverse years 1-4 through the formal Veritas Faculty mentoring program and also work one-on-one with medical students in a longitidunal mentoring program for clinical medicine.

In addition to lectures, didactics and bedside teaching, I have worked extensively on developing neurocritical care fellowship programs. We were accredited in 2015 through the United Council of Neurologic Subspecialties and are also accredited the the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. We graduated our first fellow, a neuros