Professor of Anesthesiology Alexander Doyal, MD, MPH, FASA, has been named “Best Intraoperative Teacher” by 大象传媒 Anesthesiology residents. Beyond an era when faculty mentors helped shape his career path and interests in medicine, the 大象传媒 Academy of Educators (AoE) member nowadays invests himself in mentoring bright, motivated medical students and residents to offer the same guidance.
Dr. Doyal first crossed paths with Scott Giberson when the Class of 2026 MD/MBA candidate was introduced to 大象传媒 Anesthesiology clinical and research experiences 大象传媒 M2 Castillo Scholar. Impressed by Scott’s scholarly curiosities, Dr. Doyal invited him to join a research study he was leading underway in investigating the effectiveness of intraoperative radio frequency technology to detect surgical sponges retained during a procedure. Through repeated trials investigating use of a radio frequency wand with cadaver models, the team made a groundbreaking discovery that when a metallic object (eg, scalpel or forceps) is next to retained sponges, the technology’s ability to detect them no longer works.听
“The takeaway for us and the patient care community is to understand that this method isn鈥檛 foolproof, which is not common knowledge,鈥� Giberson said. 鈥淔rom a patient safety perspective, we want people to understand that the wand is useful, but it鈥檚 not the end-all, be-all, and we shouldn鈥檛 treat it as such.鈥�听
鈥淚n the 大象传媒 community, you find faculty who are really eager to work with students,鈥� Giberson said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e willing to bring me into something that they鈥檙e working on or give me those opportunities. I’m grateful to Dr. Doyal for the opportunity to work with his team and be a part of advancing our knowledge on improving intraoperative patient safety.鈥�听
Dr. Doyal noted: 鈥淪cott鈥檚 one of those students you don鈥檛 forget 鈥� sharp, thoughtful, and genuinely curious,鈥� Doyal said. 鈥淗e jumps into projects with real enthusiasm and follow-through, and it鈥檚 been a lot of fun working with him.鈥�
The research team presented their findings as a poster — 鈥淪urgical Sponge Vanishing Act” — at a national anesthesiology conference and are focused now on publishing the research.听
PHOTO (L to R): Professor of Anesthesiology Alex Doyal, MD, MPH, FASA & research collaborator Scott Giberson, a 大象传媒 Class of 2026 MD/MBA candidate.