Skip to Main Content

Melissa Langhan, MD, MHS

she/her/hers
Professor of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine) and Emergency Medicine
DownloadHi-Res Photo

Additional Titles

Director of Operations, Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Fellowship Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Director of Education, Pediatric Emergency Medicine

About

Titles

Professor of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine) and Emergency Medicine

Director of Operations, Pediatric Emergency Medicine; Fellowship Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine; Director of Education, Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Biography

Dr. Melissa Langhan is a professor in pediatric emergency medicine at Yale University with a focus in clinical, patient-oriented research and medical education scholarship. Melissa completed her medical education at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn where she graduated summa cum laude in 2000. From here she completed residency and chief residency in pediatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and her pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Yale University in New Haven, CT.

Her early clinical research focused on the use of bedside technology, including capnography, portable spirometry and bedside ultrasonography to improve the accuracy of patient care in the emergency department. She then began honing in on capnography, assessing its use to monitor ventilation in patients with acute asthma exacerbations, altered mental status, procedural sedation and endotracheal intubation, as well as assessing the utilization of capnography in different patient care areas. Melissa later employed translational research methods to improve the dissemination and implementation of research into practice. She has explored the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of technology into acute care settings and completed a pilot study to improve use capnography in the emergency department for critically ill patients.

Dr. Langhan also serves as the fellowship director for pediatric emergency medicine and is engaged in both local and multicenter collaborative research in medical education. She serves on the Subspecialty Pediatric Investigative Network and the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Directors Committee. Currently, her focus is on educational research, in particular on assessing for biases and disparities in the evaluation of trainees and prospective candidates, use of different assessment methods, as well as developing new curricula and fostering educational scholarship. Dr. Langhan runs the Pediatric Medical Education Research Collaborative to provide support and mentorship to faculty and trainees who are interested in pursuing medical education scholarship.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

MHS
Yale University (2013)
Fellow
Yale University School of Medicine (2011)
Postdoctoral Fellow
Yale University School of Medicine (2007)
Chief Resident
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY (2004)
Resident
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY (2003)
Intern
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY (2001)
MD
SUNY Downstate (2000)
BS
University of Richmond, Biology (1995)

Research

Overview

I am currently involved in a variety of medical education research projects. In an effort to improve equity and diversity of our workforce, my work focuses on discovering and mitigating areas of bias in our assessment of trainees and prospective applicants. Along with the fellowship directors in pediatric emergency medicine across the country, I assessed the impact of Covid on fellowship training and recruitment, remediation of trainees, and variations in autonomy across programs. We have evaluated our fellow Milestones, clinical work hours, and levels of autonomy. As a representative on the Subspecialty Pediatric Investigative Network, I help to implement multicenter medical educations studies across all pediatric specialties. Some recent projects include:

  • Competency assessments among MD and DO residents in 4 medical specialties
  • Disparities in EPA assessments among pediatric subspecialty fellows
  • The impact of remediation on program directors
  • Are Graduating Pediatric Fellows Meeting the Expected Level of Supervision for the Common Subspecialty Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)?
  • Longitudinal Evaluation of the Required Levels of Supervision for Pediatric Fellows
  • Use of Structured Interviews to Reduce Bias in Trainee Evaluations
  • Perceptions of an ICU rotation on medical student training

My academic clinical research career focused on applying new, noninvasive technologies to the clinical problems seen acutely in children by designing and executing carefully planned patient-oriented research. I have been able to successfully complete several research projects using new technologies in the pediatric emergency department such as capnography and portable spirometry. Furthermore, I have been able to document that capnography is not being utilized to its full potential in both the emergency and critical care settings. I now spend time mentoring trainees and junior faculty in their clinical research interests, such as:

  • Adolescent and parental access to the medical record and the CURES act
  • Kawasaki disease and MISC: what are the differences?
  • Gender differences in the Pediatric Emergency Medicine workforce and leadership positions
  • Developing a prediction model to identify children with MISC who will decompensate


Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Academic Performance; Asthma; Bias; Capnography; Carbon Dioxide; Education, Medical; Emergency Medicine; Patient Safety; Pediatrics; Sexual and Gender Minorities

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Melissa Langhan's published research.

Publications

Featured Publications

2024

2023

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    American Academy of Pediatrics

  • activity

    New Haven Sponsor Hospital

  • activity

    New Haven Sponsor Hospital

  • activity

    New Haven Sponsor Hospital

  • activity

    American Academy of Pediatrics

Clinical Care

Overview

When parents bring children into the Pediatric Emergency Department, Melissa Langhan, MD, assures them they are in the right place.

ā€œAs health care providers, we need to understand that this really is their emergency,ā€ Dr. Langhan says. ā€œA lot of these problems, we see all of the time, but for a parent whose child has a high fever or is vomiting, it is distressing. I like to explain that we will examine their child, reassure them that itā€™s going to be OK, and make them feel comfortable taking their child home.ā€

Variety is what Dr. Langhan says she enjoys the most about her work. ā€œWe see so many different things that come through our doors. To be able to work on cases that are new and complex, and others that are straightforwardā€”all at the same timeā€”is great,ā€ she says.

Dr. Langhan has a special interest in clinical patient-oriented research, and has worked extensively with capnography, a noninvasive way to measure patientsā€™ ventilation and cardiac output when they are under anesthesia or in intensive care. She is currently working on a pilot study focused on improving the use of the technology in the emergency department for critically ill children.

Dr. Langhan is an associate professor of pediatric emergency medicine and of emergency medicine at Yale School of Medicine.

Clinical Specialties

Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Board Certifications

  • Pediatric Emergency Medicine

    Certification Organization
    AB of Pediatrics
    Latest Certification Date
    2017
    Original Certification Date
    2009
  • Pediatrics

    Certification Organization
    AB of Pediatrics
    Latest Certification Date
    2011
    Original Certification Date
    2003

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number
Appointment Number
Office Fax Number
Clinic Fax Number
Mailing Address

Pediatric Emergency Medicine

PO Box 208064

New Haven, CT 06520-8064

United States

Administrative Support

Locations

  • Patient Care Locations

    Are You a Patient? View this doctor's clinical profile on the Yale Medicine website for information about the services we offer and making an appointment.

Events

Mar 202521Friday