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INFORMATION FOR

    Melissa Langhan, MD, MHS

    she/her/hers
    Professor of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine) and Emergency Medicine
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    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 Research Interests

    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

    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

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    Events

    Mar 202521Friday